New criteria for the detection, diagnosis, and classification of diabetes mellitus.

The diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus have been reviewed and revised for the first time since 1979. A precedent-setting recommendation by the American Diabetes Association for routine screening of adults is an effort to identify the estimated 8 million people in the United States with undiagnosed diabetes. Stricter diagnostic criteria will identify more accurately those who are at risk for diabetic complications. Classification and nomenclature have been revised to describe the cause rather than the treatment of diabetes.