CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — When we think about New Year's resolutions, it means setting goals.
Now the American Medical Association is encouraging people to commit to making better health choices that will improve overall health.
High blood pressure and diabetes can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. Those facts lead experts to urge people to monitor their blood pressure and take steps to reduce hypertension and advise checking your risk of diabetes by taking a simple two-minute screening test.
"As many as one out of three may have pre-diabetes and not even know about it," said Dr. Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association. "Which left untreated, will almost inevitably advance to full-blown diabetes."
Tara Karr, a registered dietitian, says the Hispanic population has a higher prevalence of diabetes. She says most of her clients with a family history of diabetes are taking preventative measures.
"We've always kind of thought about eating healthy, getting activity, certainly getting with a medical provider for routine checks," she said. "This new and emerging science and finding is that we are actually paying attention to the microbiomeds and how it can impact people with diabetes."
You can take the risk test here.
And to learn more about microbiome science, click here.
