According to statistics, one in four Americans have diabetes but don’t know it. Because diabetes generally causes no symptoms for years, it gets a head-start by damaging your body while you don’t even realize you’re in danger. That’s why diabetes screening is so important.

The simplest way to screen for diabetes in people without symptoms is urinalysis. A glucose number below 100 is normal. Any glucose number over 100 is cause for concern, and should be addressed through weight loss and lifestyle changes.

You should be tested for diabetes if are over the age of 45 and you have one or more of the following risk factors:

• A history of cardiovascular disease

• You are inactive

• You are overweight or obese

• A parent, brother or sister with diabetes

• A family background that is African-American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian American,

• Hispanic/Latino or Pacific Islander

• You gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds or have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which is a temporary form of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy

• You have high blood pressure

• You have high cholesterol or triglycerides (specifically having an HDL, or “good” cholesterol below 35 mg/dL, or a triglyceride level above 250 mg/dL

• You have polycystic ovary syndrome, also called PCOS

• You have other conditions associated with insulin resistance, such as a condition called acanthosis nigricans, characterized by a dark, velvety rash around the neck or armpits