Frequently Asked Questions
Groups Especially Affected by Diabetes
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These publications were sources for this document:
National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2005
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/general05.htm#impaired
Take Charge of Your Diabetes
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/tcyd/index.htm
Diabetes Surveillance System – Prevalence of Diabetes
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/prev/national/index.htm
Diabetes and Women’s Health Across the Life Stages: A Public Health
Perspective (2001 fact sheet)
http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/women/index.htm
HLA-DQ and Type 1 Diabetes
http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/hugenet/reviews/diabetes.htm
Your Guide to Diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 - Taking Care of Your
Diabetes at Special Times
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type1and2/specialtimes.htm#4
Diabetes in African Americans
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/africanamerican/index.htm
Diabetes in Hispanic Americans
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/hispanicamerican/index.htm
Diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/americanindian/index.htm
Diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander Americans
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/asianamerican/index.htm
Diagnosis of Diabetes
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/diagnosis/index.htm
Diabetes Overview
http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/index.htm
How are women especially affected by diabetes?
Of the 20.8 million people with
diabetes in the United States, 9.7 million are women. The risk of heart
disease, the most common complication of diabetes, is more serious among
women than men. Among people with diabetes who have had a heart attack,
women have lower survival rates and a poorer quality of life than men. Women
with diabetes have a shorter life expectancy than women without diabetes,
and women are at greater risk of blindness from diabetes than men. Death
rates for women aged 25-44 years with diabetes are more than 3 times the
rate for women without diabetes.
Women with diabetes must also plan childbearing carefully. It is
especially important to keep blood glucose levels as near to normal as
possible before and during pregnancy, to protect both mother and baby.
Pregnancy itself may affect insulin levels, as well as diabetes-related eye
and kidney problems.
To learn more, read
What is gestational diabetes?
Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes, or high blood sugar, that
only pregnant women get. If a woman gets high blood sugar when she's
pregnant, but she never had high blood sugar before, she has gestational
diabetes.
Managing gestational diabetes is very important in order to protect the
baby. Babies born to mothers with uncontrolled gestational diabetes can be
overly large at birth, making delivery more dangerous. These babies can also
have breathing problems. Moreover, children exposed to diabetes in the womb
are more likely to become obese during childhood and adolescence, and
develop type 2 diabetes later in life.
Usually, gestational diabetes goes away after the baby is born. However,
women who have had gestational diabetes are at higher risk for developing
type 2 diabetes later in life, so healthy eating, physical activity, and
weight maintenance are important steps to prevention.
See the following for more information:
What racial and ethnic groups are especially affected
by diabetes?
African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Asian
Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans are at particularly high risk for
type 2 diabetes. In addition, gestational diabetes occurs more frequently in
African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians than in
other groups.
Why do some racial and ethnic groups have higher
rates of diabetes?
Diabetes can indeed “run in families," meaning that heredity often makes
someone more likely to develop diabetes. Researchers believe that certain
genes affecting immune response can play a role in the development of type 1
diabetes, while genes affecting insulin function can contribute to the
development of type 2 diabetes. While African Americans, Hispanic/Latino
Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans
have a slightly lower rate of type 1 diabetes, they are at a higher risk for
type 2 diabetes than the rest of the population.
Many researchers think that some African Americans, Hispanic/Latino
Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans
inherited a "thrifty gene" which helped their ancestors store food energy
better during times when food was plentiful, to survive during times when
food was scarce. Now that “feast or famine” situations rarely occur for most
people in the United States, the gene which was once helpful may now put
these groups at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
In addition, poverty, lack of access to health care, cultural attitudes
and behaviors are barriers to preventive and diabetes management care for
some minority Americans.
See the following for more information:
What are some diabetes resources focusing on African
Americans?
Here are just some of the many diabetes materials addressing African
Americans specifically:
The Diabetes
Epidemic Among African Americans (
PDF
- 44 KB) from the National Diabetes Education
Program
— Learn more about
PDFs
Diabetes in African Americans from the National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse
More Than
50 Ways to Prevent Diabetes (
PDF
- 949 KB) tip sheet from the National Diabetes
Education Program
— Learn more about
PDFs
Project DIRECT (Diabetes Intervention
Reaching and Educating Communities Together), a CDC-funded community
project to develop strategies for diabetes prevention and control
specifically among African-Americans
Health Problems
in African American Women: Diabetes from the National Women’s Health
Information Center
What are some diabetes resources focusing on
Hispanic/Latino Americans?
Here are English-language diabetes materials addressing Hispanic/Latino
Americans:
Diabetes in Hispanic Americans from the National Diabetes Information
Clearinghouse
Health Problems
in Hispanic American/Latina Women: Diabetes from the National Women’s
Health Information Center
Latinos and Diabetes* Web site section of the American Diabetes
Association
Here are some Spanish-language diabetes materials:
The CDC’s Controle su Diabetes (Take
Charge of Your Diabetes)
The Spanish-language Web site section
CDC En
Español – Diabetes
Spanish and Hispanic-Related CDC Diabetes
Publications
National Diabetes Education Program
publications in Spanish
Prevengamos la diabetes tipo 2. Paso a Paso materials from the National
Diabetes Education Program
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
publications
in Spanish
Cobertura Medicare de Suministros y Servicios para Diabéticos (
PDF - 320 KB) (Medicare
Coverage of Diabetes Supplies and Services) from the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services — Learn more about
PDFs
What are some diabetes resources focusing on American
Indians and Alaska Natives?
Here are several publications about American Indians, Alaska Natives, and
diabetes:
The CDC’s Native Diabetes
Wellness Program which supports American Indian and Alaskan Native
communities in developing effective strategies for diabetes care and
prevention
The CDC fact sheet, Trends in
Diabetes Prevalence Among American Indian and Alaskan Native Children,
Adolescents and Young Adults – 1990-1998
We Have the Power to Prevent
Diabetes Tip Sheet from the National Diabetes Education Program
Diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives from the National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
I Can Lower My Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
from the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
The U.S. Indian Health Service’s
Division
of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention
Health
Problems in American Indian/Alaska Native Women: Diabetes from the
National Women’s Health Information Center
The Pima
Indians: Pathfinders for Health from the National Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
What are some diabetes resources focusing on Asian
and Pacific Islander Americans?
Here are some resources specifically addressing diabetes among Asian and
Pacific Islander Americans:
Diabetes in Asian and Pacific Islander Americans from the National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
Health
Problems in Asian American/Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian Women:
Diabetes from the National Women’s Health Information Center
Diabetes materials in a variety of Asian languages from the National
Diabetes Education Program
Take Care of Your Heart. Manage Your Diabetes materials from the
National Diabetes Education Program
How are children especially affected by diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, is usually
first diagnosed in children, teens, or young adults. In type 1 diabetes, the
body's immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas, so
that they no longer make insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must take
insulin every day. Approximately one of every 400 to 500 children and
adolescents has type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes, a disease usually diagnosed in adults aged 40 years or
older, is now becoming more common among children and adolescents,
particularly in American Indians, African Americans, and Hispanic/Latinos.
Among youth, obesity, physical inactivity, and prenatal exposure to
diabetes in the mother have become widespread, and may contribute to the
increased development of type 2 diabetes during childhood and adolescence.
See the following for more information:
How are older adults especially affected by
diabetes?
As we age, our risk for
developing diabetes increases. Approximately half of all diabetes cases
occur in people aged 60 years or older. Approximately 20.9% (10.3 million)
of people in the United States aged 60 years or older have diabetes.
Diabetes often leads to chronic conditions that eventually result in death,
such as heart disease and kidney disease. Thus, diabetes is often
responsible for,
but not listed as, the cause of many deaths.
See the following for more information:
Dealing
with Diabetes* from the National Institute on Aging
It’s
Not Too Late to Prevent Diabetes (
PDF - 386 KB) from the National Diabetes Education
Program — Learn more about
PDFs
Cognitive and Physical Disabilities and Aging-Related Complications of
Diabetes,* a professional journal article from the American Diabetes
Association
How are some veterans affected by diabetes?
Vietnam veterans exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange may be at
increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. In the year 2000, the
Veterans Administration announced that it would recognize diabetes as a
Vietnam service-related disease.
See the following for more information:
* 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:
December 3, 2008
Page last modified: August 7, 2008
Content Source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Diabetes Translation
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