What is my risk of developing type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes does not occur suddenly but develops over years – often without being noticed. At present, more than 8.9 million people in Germany are known to have type 2 diabetes. In addition, the number of unreported cases is likely to be in the millions.

In order to utilize sugar (glucose) as an energy source, the body needs insulin. In type 2 diabetes, however, the amount of insulin produced in the body is insufficient or it can't work properly. As a result, the sugar does not enter the body cells and cannot be used for energy production. It remains in the blood and can cause serious consequences in the vessels and on the organs. These include, for example

• Cardiovascular diseases
• Eye diseases up to blindness
• Nerve diseases and the diabetic food syndrome
• Kidney diseases up to kidney failure

In addition, individuals with type 2 diabetes die earlier, especially of cardiovascular diseases.

People with so-called prediabetes, the precursor of type 2 diabetes, have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Those at increased risk can often prevent or at least delay the onset of the disease by adjusting their lifestyle.

Use the diabetes risk score to determine your personal risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years and find out what you can do yourself to prevent this development. The DIfE – German Diabetes Risk Score was developed by the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung, DIfE) and further developed as part of the research of the German Center for Diabetes Research (Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung, DZD).

The risk score is aimed at people without diabetes. If you have already been diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the test cannot be used. This also applies if you already have had or currently have an elevated blood glucose level.

Information on the increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women who have had gestational diabetes can be found here.

What does the result of the test mean?

The test shows how you can personally help to prevent type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle plays an important role: the risk of type 2 diabetes can be significantly reduced by eating a balanced diet, getting plenty of exercise, giving up smoking and, if necessary, losing weight.

You can find more information on what you can do to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes here.

Please note that even people at low risk can develop type 2 diabetes whereas those at high risk may remain healthy. Avoiding or reducing risk factors are thus no guarantee that the disease will not develop.