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Last Updated: March 26, 2008
Last Reviewed:
March 26, 2008
Content Source:
Office of Minority Health & Health Disparities (OMHD) |
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Eliminate Disparities in Diabetes
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What is the Burden of Diabetes in the United
States? |
| Diabetes was the
sixth leading cause of death in the year 2000.1
More than 20.8 million Americans have diabetes.2
Diabetes is a
group of diseases described by high levels of blood glucose resulting from
defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. This disease can
cause serious complications and premature death, but persons with diabetes
can take measures to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences. |
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Type 1 diabetes was previously called
insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset diabetes.
Risk factors are less well defined for type 1 diabetes than for
type 2 diabetes, but autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors are
involved in the development of this type of diabetes.3 |
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Type 2 diabetes was
previously called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or
adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes may account for about 90 to 95
percent of
all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Risk factors for type 2
diabetes include older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, prior
history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, physical
inactivity, and race/ethnicity.3 |
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Gestational diabetes
is
a form of glucose intolerance that is diagnosed in some women during
pregnancy. Gestational diabetes occurs more frequently among African
Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians. It
is also more common among obese women and women with a family
history of diabetes. During pregnancy, gestational diabetes
requires treatment to normalize maternal blood glucose levels to
avoid complications in the infant.3 |
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Promising
Intervention Strategies |
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To reduce the rate of
diabetes and its complications among high-risk minority populations: |
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Increase early screening and
early treatment |
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Improve care for control of
diabetes and treatment of major complications, including eye and
foot examinations |
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Conduct clinical trials to
prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in individuals at most risk for
developing the disease. Minorities are most likely to be affected by
type 2 diabetes |
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Programs, Projects and Initiatives Addressing Diabetes in Minority
Communities |
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Project DIRECT |
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Project DIRECT is a multi-year community diabetes demonstration project,
funded primarily by the CDC focused on reducing the burden of diabetes
and its complications in an African American community (southeast
Raleigh, North Carolina) through a community diabetes demonstration
project.5 |
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To date, Project DIRECT has provided insight into preventive care services
and self-care behaviors among adult African Americans with diabetes.
Findings include: |
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Close to half have never received any
form of diabetes education. |
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Less than half do not have annual A1C
examinations. |
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More people are considered "sedentary"
than either "irregularly active" or "regularly active". |
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More than half monitor their blood
glucose once a day or less. |
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More Information on Project DIRECT |
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The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) |
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NDEP is a co-sponsored CDC and NIH initiative that involves public and
private partners in efforts to promote early diagnosis of diabetes,
prevent or delay the onset of diabetes, and improve treatment and
outcomes for African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American
Indians/Alaska Natives and other groups at increased risk for diabetes.6 |
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More Information on NDEP |
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SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study |
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To address the increasing incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in
youth, CDC has collaborated with other agencies to fund and initiate the
SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study. Conducted in six
geographically dispersed populations that encompass the racial/ethnic
diversity of the United States, one of SEARCH's prime objectives is to
determine the magnitude and trends of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in
youth, including African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos.7 |
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Thus far, SEARCH has assembled the first data on the burden of type 1 and
type 2 diabetes in children, including findings on the burden of
diabetes in African American and Hispanic/Latino Youths: |
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Among minority groups included in the
study, African American youth had the highest diabetes incidence
rates. |
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For type 2 diabetes, no group had
greater incidence rates than African Americans. |
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In youth aged 10 years or older, type 2
diabetes represented 58 percent of new cases among African
Americans. |
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Among minority groups, Hispanics had
the highest number of diagnosed diabetes cases in each age group. |
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About 1 in 500 Hispanic youths have
diabetes. |
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More Information on SEARCH |
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What can
Healthcare Providers do to Reduce the Disparity of Diabetes? |
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Physicians should take advantage of their patients’
routine office visits to conduct foot and kidney exams, and recommend eye
screenings once a year.
Physicians should teach patients to make proper
diabetes management a part of their daily lives. Because many
complications from kidney disease, blindness, and amputations can be
prevented, health care providers should regularly screen their patients
with diabetes.
Reducing high blood pressure among people with
diabetes could prevent one-third of
diabetes-related eye, kidney, and nerve diseases.
Approximately 60 percent
of diabetes-related blindness could be avoided with good blood glucose
control or by early detection and laser treatments.
About half of all
lower-extremity amputations can be prevented by properly caring for feet
and by reducing risk factors such as abnormally high blood sugar,
cigarette smoking, and high blood pressure.8 |
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What
can
Individuals do to Decrease Their Risk of Developing Diabetes or
Its Complications? |
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The increasing rate of diabetes is alarming, but much of this
major public health problem can be prevented with early detection,
improved care, and education on diabetes self-management. For
example, because type 2 diabetes appears to be associated with obesity,
people can change their lifestyles to increase regular physical activity
and eat a low-fat diet.
During routine doctor visits, patients with
diabetes should ask for foot exams even if the visit is related to another
health matter. |
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Sources:
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1
CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS), Health, United States, 2007,
Table 31. |
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2
CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Diabetes, Disabling Disease to Double by
2050,
At a Glance, 2008. |
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3
CDC, Diabetes Public Health Resource, Publications and Products,
National Diabetes Fact sheet,
What is Diabetes?
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4
CDC,
Diabetes
Data and Trends |
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5
CDC, Diabetes Public Health Resource,
Diabetes Projects,
Project Direct |
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6
CDC, Diabetes
Public Health Resource,
National
Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) |
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7
CDC, Diabetes
Public Health Resource,
Publications and Products, Fact sheet,
SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth |
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8
American Diabetes Association (ADA). |
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