Overcoming preanalytical issues for diagnosing diabetes with fasting plasma glucose

Diabetes is a highly prevalent condition worldwide, currently representing the seventh cause of death in the United States. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimates that up to 29.1 million Americans (i.e., 9.3% of the general population) suffer from diabetes, and as many as 8.1 million of these remain undiagnosed (1). A similar prevalence of disease has been reported in China, with an estimated 114 million Chinese adults affected by diabetes, so accounting for approximately 12% of the general population (2). These figures are especially concerning if one considers that diabetes has many unfavorable consequences on patient health, healthcare sustainability and society. This is mainly due to the many well-known complications of untreated or poorly managed diabetes, which include both microvascular (i.e., retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and macrovascular (e.g., coronary heart disease and cerebral ischemic disease) disorders.