November is Diabetes Awareness Month!
Posted on November 10, 2014
This week we will be talking about the biggest epidemic in America……. diabetes.
More and more Americans are living with Type 2 Diabetes than ever before, in fact the ADA data suggests that the prevalence continually increases.
- In 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes.
- In 2010 the figures were 25.8 million and 8.3%.
In addition, there is a large proportion of people who have the disease, but are undiagnosed; of the 29.1 million, 21.0 million were diagnosed, and 8.1 million were undiagnosed.
- In 2010 the figures were 18.8 million and 7.0 million.
Here are some more startling figures from the ADA:
- Prevalence in Seniors: The percentage of Americans age 65 and older remains high, at 25.9%, or 11.8 million seniors (diagnosed and undiagnosed).
- New Cases: the number of new cases of a disease among a certain group of people for a certain period of time; in 2012 was 1.7 million new diagnoses/year; in 2010 it was 1.9 million.
- Prediabetes: In 2012, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had prediabetes a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.
- People with prediabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and for heart disease and stroke.
- Other names for prediabetes are impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose; this is up from 79 million in 2010.
Unfortunately unmanaged diabetes can result in death. According to the ADA, Diabetes remains the 7th leading cause of death in the United States in 2010, with 69,071 death certificates listing it as the underlying cause of death, and a total of 234,051 death certificates listing diabetes as an underlying or contributing cause of death.
At one time Type 2 diabetes only occurred during adulthood and children diagnosed with diabetes were diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Here is the difference:
- Type 1 Diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by a total lack of insulin. This occurs when the body’s immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. Type 1 diabetes develops most often in young people but can appear in adults.
- Type 2 diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by either a lack of insulin or the body’s inability to use insulin efficiently. Type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older adults but can appear in young people
The ADA estimates about 208,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes (both Type 1 and Type 2), approximately 0.25% of that population.
Diabetes by Race/Ethnicity
The rates of diagnosed diabetes by race/ethnic background are:
- 6% of non-Hispanic whites
- 0% of Asian Americans
- 8% of Hispanics
- 2% of non-Hispanic blacks
- 9% of American Indians/Alaskan Natives
- The breakdown among Asian Americans:
- 4% for Chinese
- 3% for Filipinos
- 0 for Asian Indians
- 8% for other Asian Americans.
- The breakdown among Hispanic adults:
- 5% for Central and South Americans
- 3% for Cubans
- 9% for Mexican Americans
- 8% for Puerto Ricans.
If you are not sure if you may have diabetes, make an appointment with your doctor for a blood glucose test.
Don’t forget to take my quick weekly quiz and claim your reward. Act now before they are all gone!
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