Experts predict diabetes prevalence will continue to increase
Every year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides updated statistics for the prevalence of diabetes in the US population.1
In the report issued for 2012, CDC said that there were 1 million type 1 diabetics and 18.8 million type 2 diabetics in the United States. It further estimated that there were an additional 7 million undiagnosed diabetics in the country. All together, the 26.8 million people thought to have diabetes accounted for 8.3% of the US population.
While those numbers were staggering, the report issued for 2014 is even worse. This year, CDC estimates that 29.1 million people, or 9.3% of the US population, have diabetes. Of these, 21 million have been diagnosed, while 8.1 million remain undiagnosed.
According to CDC’s estimates, in just 2 short years the diabetic population of the United States has increased by 2.3 million people. And during that same period, the indirect and direct medical costs related to diabetes increased from $174 billion to $245 billion annually.
The financial burden and costs in morbidity and mortality continue to be staggering. Diabetes is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. But the toll may be much higher if one considers the contribution of diabetes to such other causes of death as heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease.1
Among the experts, the expectation is that the prevalence of diabetes will likely continue to increase—at least in the near future. CDC estimates that 79 million adults aged 20 and over have prediabetes, with blood glucose levels between 100 mg/dL and 126 mg/dL. Within 3 years, it is expected that 11% of that population will develop diabetes.
Unfortunately, matters don’t look much better on a global scale. Nearly 171 million people in the world have been diagnosed with diabetes, and this number is calculated to double by the year 2030.1
Reference
1. National Diabetes Statistics Report: National Estimates. Atlanta: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/estimates14.htm. Accessed October 15, 2014.