Interesting Information On Diabetes
Source: The American Diabetes Association
Can Diabetes Be Cured?
Not today. Although many organizations, like the ADA, are actively researching treatment, diabetes has no cure. However, with the right support, it can be managed.
Is Diabetes Fatal?
People with diabetes can live long, fulfilling lives. But it is a very serious disease and is currently the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States.
Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent.
Often, diabetes is not reported as a cause of death when there are multiple chronic conditions such as heart disease and hypertension. Because of this, the toll of diabetes is believed to be much higher than officially reported.
For more information on diabetes-related complications, click here.
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Are There Warning Signs for Diabetes?
Warning signs for type 1 diabetes:
- Frequent urination
- Unusual thirst
- Extreme hunger
- Unusual weight loss
- Extreme fatigue
- Irritability
Often, people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms, but here are some of common warning signs:
- Any of the type 1 symptoms
- Frequent infections
- Blurred vision
- Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
- Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet
- Recurring skin, gum or bladder infections
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What Are the Risk Factors for Diabetes?
There are different risk factors for the different types of diabetes.
Risk factors for type 1 diabetes:
- Siblings of people with type 1 diabetes
- Children of parents with type 1 diabetes
Risk factors for type 2 diabetes:
- People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fasting glucose (IFG)
- People over age 45
- People with a family history of diabetes
- People who are overweight
- People who do not exercise regularly
- People with low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides or high blood pressure
- Certain racial and ethnic groups (e.g., non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives)
- Women who had gestational diabetes, or who had a baby weighing nine pounds or more at birth
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What Is the Prevalence of Diabetes Among Different Groups of People?
People with diabetes under 20 years of age: 176,500, or 0.2 percent of all people in this age group have diabetes. About one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has type 1 diabetes.
Two million adolescents (or one in six overweight adolescents) aged 12-19 have prediabetes.
Although type 2 diabetes can occur in youth, the nationally representative data that would be needed to monitor diabetes trends in youth by type are not available. Clinically-based reports and regional studies suggest that type 2 diabetes, although still rare, is being diagnosed more frequently in children and adolescents, particularly in American Indians, African Americans, and Hispanic/Latino Americans.
People with diabetes aged 20 years or older: 20.6 million, or 9.6 percent of all people in this age group have diabetes.
People with diabetes aged 60 years or older: 10.3 million, or 20.9 percent of all people in this age group, have diabetes.
Men: 10.9 million, or 10.5 percent of all men age 20 years or older have diabetes, although nearly one third of them do not know it.
Women: 9.7 million, or 8.8 percent of all women age 20 years or older have diabetes, although nearly one third of them do not know it. The prevalence of diabetes is at least two to four times higher among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than among non-Hispanic white women.
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Does Diabetes Affect Different Race/Ethnic Groups Differently?
Yes. Diabetes affects minorities at a greater rate.
Non-Hispanic white people with diabetes: 13.1 million, or 8.7 percent of all non-Hispanic whites ages 20 years or older have diabetes.
Non-Hispanic black people with diabetes: 3.2 million, or 13.3 percent of all non-Hispanic blacks age 20 years or older have diabetes. After adjusting for population age differences, non-Hispanic blacks are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
Hispanic/Latino American people with diabetes: After adjusting for population age differences, Mexican Americans, the largest Hispanic/Latino subgroup, are 1.7 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites. If the prevalence of diabetes among Mexican Americans was applied to the total Hispanic/Latino population, about 2.5 million (9.5 percent) Hispanic/Latino Americans age 20 years or older would have diabetes. Sufficient data are not available to derive estimates of the total prevalence of diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes) for other Hispanic/Latino groups. However, residents of Puerto Rico are 1.8 times more likely to have diagnosed diabetes than U.S. non-Hispanic whites.
American Indians and Alaska Native people with diabetes: 99,500 (12.8 percent) of American Indians and Alaska Natives age 20 years or older who received care from IHS in 2003 had diagnosed diabetes. 118,000 (15.1 percent) of American Indians and Alaska Natives age 20 years or older have diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes). Taking into account population age differences, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islander people with diabetes: The total prevalence of diabetes (both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes) is not available for Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders. However, in Hawaii, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders age 20 years or older are more than two times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as whites after adjusting for population age differences. Similarly, in California, Asians were 1.5 times more likely to have diagnosed diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Other groups within these populations also have increased risk for diabetes.
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What Is the Cost of Diabetes Treatment in the United States?
One out of every 10 healthcare dollars is spent on diabetes treatment and treatment for diabetes-related complications.
The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be $132 billion. Direct medical expenditures total $92 billion and comprised of:
- $23.2 billion for diabetes care
- $24.6 billion for chronic diabetes-related complications
- $44.1 billion for excess prevalence of general medical conditions.
The per capita annual costs of healthcare for people with diabetes rose from $10,071 in 1997 to $13,243 in 2002, an increase of more than 30 percent. In contrast, healthcare costs for people without diabetes amounted to $2,560 in 2002.
Direct Costs of Diabetes
- Estimated at $92 billion in 2002, compared to $44 billion in 1997.
- Diabetes alone represents 11 percent of the U.S. healthcare expenditure. People with diabetes have medical expenditures 2.4 times higher than they would if they did not have diabetes.
- $40.3 billion was spent for inpatient hospital care and $13.8 billion for nursing home care for people with diabetes.
- Diabetes-related hospitalizations totaled 16.9 million days in 2002. Rates of outpatient care were highest for physician office visits, which included 62.6 million visits to treat people with diabetes.
- Cardiovascular disease is the most costly complication of diabetes, accounting for more than $17.6 billion of the $91.8 billion annual direct medical costs for diabetes in 2002.
Indirect Costs of Diabetes
- Estimated to be $40 billion in 2002.
- In 2002, diabetes accounted for a loss of nearly 88 million disability days.
- 176,000 cases of permanent disability were caused by diabetes, at a cost of $7.5 billion.
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