HHS HealthBeat (December 14, 2010)

Diabetes leaps

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

More people are getting diabetes, and people who have diabetes are living longer with it. And when you put the trends together, you can see a tidal wave of disease heading toward us. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected the numbers to the year 2050. Dr. Ann Albright:

``We can expect 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 to have diabetes. Currently, we’re at 1 in 10. So that gives you a sense of what we’re looking into the future if we stay on the course we’re on.’’ (11 seconds)

Albright says the stakes are too high to let this happen. CDC and its partners are working on initiatives, but individuals can prevent or control diabetes with proper eating and physical activity.

The study is in the journal Population Health Metrics.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011