One in every two adults will eventually acquire diabetes later in life, based on findings on a new study.

According to researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Boston and Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, one in every two adults will develop prediabetes, which is an elevation in blood sugar levels that has no accompanying symptoms typical to diabetics.

"We have known this from previous studies - but what this study adds is a method of communicating risk in a better way - a person's lifetime risk of developing diabetes," Dr. Kamlesh Khunti, who was not involved in the study, wrote in an editorial.

The research team used data on around 10,000 adults from the Netherlands. Fifteen years' worth of data on these patients acquired included medical records, discharges, pharmacy dispensing information, and fasting blood sugar results.

Based on their findings, more than 1,100 people had prediabetic blood sugar levels. Among these people, more than 800 of them eventually developed diabetes later in life and at least 230 were prescribed insulin to control their diabetes.

The team then applied these results to study population risk levels for those aged 45, and found that at least half of these adults will develop prediabetes in their lifetime while 30 percent of those who do will eventually develop diabetes and 9 percent will have to take insulin to control their blood sugar.

Elevated blood sugar is common among adults, but so far there were no previously published studies that estimated how many adults will develop diabetes in life. The researchers hope that with this study, more people will qualify for prediabetic assessment and lifestyle changes or medications that can help reduce their risk and prevent them from acquiring diabetes for good.

"People should know their risk and if they are at higher risk, then they should have a more intensive method of reducing future diabetes risk," Khunti said.

Diabetes is a metabolic condition wherein the body can no longer regulate its own blood sugar levels effectively, due to either no longer being able to produce the sugar converting hormone insulin or because of the insulin produced is no longer effective.

Healthy diet, regular exercise and checking blood sugar levels regularly for those who are at risk are ways to monitor prediabetes and prevent developing the condition.