Frequently Asked Questions
Diabetes Statistics and Research
These publications were sources for this document:
National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/factsheet07.htm
Preventing Diabetes and Its Complications
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/factsheets/Prevention/diabetes.htm
Diabetes Overview
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/index.htm#hope
 How many people in the United
States have diabetes?
As of 2007, 23.6 million people—7.8% of the population—have diabetes; 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older in 2007.
For more statistics, see CDC's National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007
National
Estimates on Diabetes.
How are different age groups
affected by diabetes?
Among Americans aged 20 years or younger, less than one-quarter of 1%
(about 186,300 people) have diabetes.
Among Americans aged 20 years or older, 10.7% (23.5 million people) have
diabetes.
The prevalence of diabetes is greater among older people. Among Americans
aged 60 years or older, 23.1% (12.2 million people) have diabetes.
For more statistics, see CDC's National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007
National
Estimates on Diabetes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
Where can I find national and
state statistics on diabetes?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides several
resources for data on Americans with diabetes.
The CDC’s Diabetes
Surveillance System provides national statistics, in charts and data tables,
on prevalence, incidence, and duration of diabetes; occurrence of complications
such as cardiovascular disease, lower extremity conditions, end-stage renal
disease, and visual impairment among people with diabetes; as well as health
status and disability, preventive care practices, hospitalization, insulin and
oral medication use, and risk factors for complications among people with diabetes.
The Diabetes Surveillance System also provides state
data on the prevalence of diabetes, preventive care practices,
incidence of end stage renal disease, health status,
and disability of people with diabetes. You can also contact the state-based
Diabetes Prevention and Control Programs for further state information.
The CDC publication Diabetes:
Deadly, Disabling, and on the Rise provides national and state data on
the rising incidence of diabetes in the United States.
The CDC’s diabetes
“Fast Stats” page provides a concise list of statistics, as well.
Where can I learn more about
what states are doing to address diabetes?
Program and contact information for each state-based Diabetes
Prevention and Control Program is available on this Web site. The CDC provides
resources and technical assistance to these programs, which operated in all
U.S. states and many territories.
What is the economic cost of
diabetes in the United States?
The estimated economic cost of
diabetes in 2007 was $174 billion. Of this amount, $116 billion was due to
direct medical costs and $58 billion due to indirect costs such as lost
workdays, restricted activity, and disability due to diabetes. People with
diagnosed diabetes incur average expenditures of $11,744 per year, of which
$6,649 is attributed to diabetes. People with diagnosed diabetes, on average,
have medical expenditures that are approximately 2.3 times higher than what
expenditures would be in the absence of diabetes. Approximately $1 of $5 health
care dollars in the United States is spent caring for someone with diagnosed
diabetes, while approximately $1 of $10 health care dollars is attributed to diabetes.
For more information on the expense of diabetes, see:
What are some research studies
that have provided important evidence about diabetes prevention and treatment?
The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was a federally funded study of more
than
3,000 people at high risk for diabetes. The DPP showed that a 5 to 7 percent
weight loss from exercise and decreased dietary fat and calories can delay and
possibly prevent type 2 diabetes.
For more information, see
The 10-year Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed that keeping
blood glucose levels close to normal helps prevent type 1 diabetes-related complications.
Among the 1,441 people participants, all of whom had type 1 diabetes, those
who kept their hemoglobin A1C as close to normal as possible had considerably
lower incidence of diabetic eye, kidney, and nerve complications. A follow-up
study showed that, 8 years after the trial ended, participants who were continuing
to maintain intensive blood glucose control continued to have lower rates of
complications.
For more information, see the Diabetes
Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) fact sheet from the National Diabetes
Information Clearinghouse.
The Diabetes Prevention Trial -Type 1 (DPT-1) researched two methods to delay
or prevent type 1 diabetes. Nine medical centers and more than 350 U.S. and Canadian
clinics took part in the DPT-1. One DPT-1 trial tested whether low-dose insulin
injections could prevent or delay the development of type 1 diabetes in people
at high risk for developing type 1 diabetes within 5 years. The other tested
whether oral insulin would prevent type 1 diabetes in people with a moderate
risk for developing diabetes. However, neither trial was successful at preventing
or delaying type 1 diabetes.
To learn more, see Diabetes
Prevention Trial - Type 1 and Type
1 Diabetes Prevention Trials Questions and Answers from the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Where can I learn more about
current clinical trials for diabetes research?
ClinicalTrials.gov provides regularly
updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research
in human volunteers. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's
purpose, who may participate, locations, and telephone numbers for more details.
What are some recent improvements
in diabetes care?
Technology has given new solutions to diabetes care. Quick-acting and long-acting
insulins provide more options for managing insulin-dependent diabetes. A wider
range of oral drugs are available to treat type 2 diabetes. New monitors make
it easier and more comfortable for people to test and track their blood
glucose. External insulin pumps can replace the discomfort of daily injections.
Laser surgery can treat diabetic eye disease and prevent blindness. Successful
kidney and pancreas transplantation procedures bring hope to people with organ
failure.
In addition, we have learned more about how to manage diabetes and prevent
complications through weight reduction, blood glucose control, and exercise.
We have more successful methods of managing diabetes during pregnancy. We have
also identified lifestyle changes that can help prevent diabetes.
What is islet transplantation?
Islet transplantation is a procedure which researchers hope will allow people
with type 1 diabetes to manufacture their own insulin and avoid daily injections.
Cell clusters called islets, which contain the cells that produce insulin, are
transplanted from a donor pancreas into the pancreas of a person with type 1
diabetes. The goal is to transplant enough islets to produce enough insulin
so that injections are no longer necessary. The long-term success and effects
of this procedure are still being studied.
For more information, see Pancreatic
Islet Transplantation, a fact sheet from the National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse. * Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely
as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any
organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred.
The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization
Web pages found at this link.
Return to Frequently Asked Questions
Page last reviewed: June 23, 2008
Page last modified: June 23, 2008
Content Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Diabetes Translation
|
Diabetes & Me
PDF - 72 KB), a chapter from Diabetes in America, published by the
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
—