What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease in which the body either fails to
produce any insulin (type 1, also called insulin-dependent or
juvenile-onset), or the insulin that it does produce is unable to
adequately trigger the conversion of food into energy (type 2, also called
non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset).
Who has diabetes?
Federal statistics estimate that 18.2 million children
and adults in the United States - 6.3 percent of the population - have
diabetes. While an estimated 13 million of these have been diagnosed with
diabetes, 5.2 million are estimated to have type 2 diabetes and not know
it. Most people with diabetes have type 2; an estimated 800,000 have type
1. About 1 million people age 20 or older will be diagnosed
with diabetes this year. Diabetes is more prevalent among Native
Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian
Americans/Pacific Islanders. An estimated 20 million people in the U.S
have pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when one has higher than normal
blood glucose levels, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having type 2
diabetes. (Research shows that if action is taken to control
glucose levels, those with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of
diabetes.)
What are the symptoms of diabetes?
- Excessive thirst
- Frequent urination
- Weight loss
- Blurred vision
- Increased hunger
- Frequent skin, bladder or gum infections
- Irritability
- Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
- Slow to heal wounds
- Extreme unexplained fatigue
- Sometimes there are no symptoms (type 2 diabetes)Who
is at greatest risk for developing diabetes?
People who:
- are 45 or over
- are overweight
- are habitually physically inactive
- have previously been identified as having IFG
(impaired fasting glucose) or IGT (impaired glucose tolerance)
- have a family history of diabetes
- have members of certain ethnic groups (including
Asian American, African-American, Hispanic American, and Native
American)
- have had gestational diabetes or have given birth to
a child weighing more than 9 pounds
- have elevated blood pressure
- have an HDL cholesterol level (the ?good?
cholesterol) of 35 mg/dl or lower and/or a triglyceride level of 250
mg/dl or higher
- have polycystic ovary syndrome
- have a history of vascular disease
What are the long-term complications of diabetes?
- People with diabetes are two to four more times more
likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than those who don't
have diabetes
- Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness among
adults between 20 and 74 years old.
- Diabetes is the leading cause of treated end-stage
kidney disease in the U.S.
- More than 60 percent of the limb amputations in the
U.S. occur among people with diabetes
- About 60-70 percent of the people with diabetes have
mild to severe nerve damage
Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death by disease
in the United States. Diabetes leads to the death of an estimated 213,000
people in the U.S. each year. Diabetes and its complications cost an
estimated $132 billion annually in the United States alone in terms of
healthcare costs and lost productivity
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