Diabetes Statistics You Should Know

When you study diabetes statistics, they present an interesting picture of the growth of this major disease, especially in the western world. The number of people who have diabetes is enormous. It is significant that the rate of the disease growth is accelerating.

Looking at statistics for diabetes in the United States alone shows that nearly eight percent of the population in 2007 had the disease. Diagnosed cases included 18 million individuals just in the U. S. And and additional 6 million people who are undiagnosed. Almost 60 million more people are noted as being in a pre-diabetic state. These are people who are likely to move into diagnosed diabetes unless drastic measures in diet and lifestyle are made.

Looking at these statistics a little more closely by age group, you will see that for children under age 20, a group of four to six hundred children will include at least one who has juvenile or Type 1 diabetes. Teenagers who are overweight during the adolescent years have a rate of pre-diabetes of one in six. The Type 2 form of the disease is appearing at a younger and younger age.

Between ages 20 and 60, diabetes hits almost eleven percent of the population. The rate increases up to 23 percent after age sixty. Men get diabetes at a rate slightly higher than women do. Amongst Hispanics and blacks, the rate for diabetes is almost two times that for Asian and Caucasian races.

The mortality rate for diabetes related causes is the seventh highest in the United States. Usually diabetes is listed on death certificates as a contributing factor, rather than the cause of death. Heart disease individuals who are also diabetic and stroke victims who have diabetes are between two and four times more likely to die than those without diabetes.

In individuals with diabetes, there is more likely to be high blood pressure readings. Many of the diabetic patients take medications for hypertension. Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness cases. It is the main cause of renal failure. Almost three-quarters of people with diabetes also have various levels of damage to the nervous system. Lower limb amputations that are not caused by trauma are overwhelmingly due to diabetic conditions.

The financial impact of diabetes is enormous. The average medical cost for individuals with diabetes is nearly 2.5 times higher than in individuals who do not have the disease. In the United States in 2007, diagnosed diabetes costs were $174 billion. If you add the diabetes statistics and costs of pre-diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes and gestational diabetes, the annual cost for the same period was $218 billion.

Kenn Fong, writer. To find out more on DiabetesScoop.