June 2006

Study shows diabetes is on the rise

More than 73 million Americans — one-third of the adult population — now have diabetes or may be on their way to getting it, according to a study published in the June issue of Diabetes Care.

Researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the prevalence of diabetes in America continues to climb.

The study showed 9.3 percent of adults age 20 and older (19.3 million people) had diabetes in 1999-2002. While the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes has remained essentially stable since 1988-1994 at 2.8 percent, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes rose sharply during the same period – from 5.1 percent to 6.5 percent of the population.

Another 26 percent of Americans had impaired fasting glucose (IFG), a form of pre-diabetes. In pre-diabetes, glucose levels are higher than normal, even though they are not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Prediabetes often leads to diabetes within 10 years, if steps are not taken to prevent it.

Americans pay a high price for the rise in diabetes. The disease cost the U.S. an estimated $132 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity in 2002.

Diabetes Care, published by the American Diabetes Association, is the leading peer-reviewed journal of clinical research into the nation’s fifth leading cause of death by disease. Diabetes also is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, as well as the leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure and non-traumatic amputations.

Source: American Diabetes Association, www.diabetes.org

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