Experts urge early action to prevent diabetes in Austria

Early detection of prediabetes can help prevent the condition from developing into diabetes, ORF reports, as Austria’s World Diabetes Day coverage focuses on recognising the warning stage. Around 800,000 people in Austria have been diagnosed with diabetes, while the true number is likely higher because many people do not know they have it.

Diabetes is a chronic illness that can develop gradually without a person noticing. Christian Schelkshorn, head of the metabolic outpatient clinic at Stockerau hospital, said early treatment offers many ways to stop the condition from becoming a problem, before blood sugar rises and long-term damage develops.

The long-term blood sugar measure HbA1c can indicate prediabetes. The condition begins at 5.7 per cent; a reading of 6.5 per cent or higher indicates diabetes.

Regular exercise and a balanced diet can help reduce the risk. Dietitian Adalina Neesen recommends planning regular meals, taking enough time to eat and chewing food thoroughly. She also advises avoiding or reducing sweetened soft drinks and energy drinks, which can quickly raise blood sugar, and choosing sugar-free drinks instead.

Stockerau hospital is set to become Lower Austria’s first of three diabetes centres, with centres in Melk and Mödling planned to follow. The service is intended for patients who have not reached their treatment goals with a GP, internist or primary care centre. It is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.