New report on surge in diabetes in the US

Thu, 03 Feb 2011
Estimates for 2011 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have shown that there are now 105 million people in the US with either diabetes or prediabetes . These figures break down into around 26 million Americans with diabetes, and 79 million people with what is termed prediabetes, although some of the rise may be explained by increased levels of obesity and changes in diagnostic criteria.

The CDC have found that prediabetes, where levels of blood sugar are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes, affects 35 per cent of adults in the US. People suffering form prediabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke than those without it.

The CDC also revealed that around 27 per cent of Americans with diabetes, or about 7 million people, are still not aware they have the metabolic condition.

Christine Resta, a diabetes expert at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York, commented "The percentage of U.S. adults who are overweight or obese has also risen dramatically, and there is no doubt that rising rates of obesity are linked to the rising rates of diabetes."

However, different diagnostic methods for the illness could be a factor in the rise in numbers. Jacob Warman, chief of endocrinology at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City, said "One of the reasons the incidence of diabetes has been increasing in the last few years is because the American Diabetes Association lowered the guidelines for diabetes diagnosis ."

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