Diabetes is a single term that really describes a group of diseases with one thing in common: high blood glucose levels. Elevated blood glucose levels result from a problem with insulin production, a problem with insulin effectiveness, or both. There are over a dozen “forms” of diabetes that have been identified.

 Because type 2 diabetes represents the vast majority of cases of diabetes in the U.S., we will concentrate on this type of diabetes for our discussion. There is also type 1 diabetes, which involves the destruction of pancreatic beta cells that make insulin; gestational diabetes, which is a glucose intolerance that develops during pregnancy; and diabetes that can result from genetic conditions.

Type 2 diabetes typically begins with insulin resistance, the mild form of which is called “pre-diabetes”. This is very common and may be present in more than 84.1 million Americans (33.9% of the US adult population) . During this stage, diabetes may be preventable through lifestyle changes and weight management. But how we approach these lifestyle changes is critical to their success.

 

Demographics for diagnosis show that it is split pretty evenly between men and women with 11.2% of men and 10.2% of women over 20 years of age. Over 60 years of age, more than 25.6% have diabetes. People of Hispanic and non-Hispanic black heritage have higher prevalence rate than non-Hispanic whites and Asian Americans. And rates are overwhelmingly higher among persons who did not complete high school education.

With trends the way they are, a study has suggested that the number of people diagnosed and undiagnosed with diabetes may nearly double by the year 2034 from 24 million to 44 million. Between 2009 and 2034 costs of healthcare for diabetes may triple, with the heaviest burden on Medicare spending.

Information on CDC’s website at: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2007.pdf