Number Of People With Diabetes Increases By 15%; Minorities Disproportionately Affected By Condition

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 26 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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An estimated 24 million U.S. residents have diabetes, a 15% increase from two years earlier, according to a CDC report released on Tuesday, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Lopatto, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/25). About 8% of the U.S. population has the disease, according to CDC (Redmon, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 6/25).

The report, led by Ann Albright, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, is based on data from 2007 (AP/Chicago Tribune, 6/24). The report found that the number of people with undiagnosed diabetes fell to 5.7 million, from 6.2 million in 2005, indicating growing awareness about the disease, according to CDC (Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/25).

However, the report also found that 57 million people have blood sugar abnormalities called pre-diabetes, a condition that increases the risk of acquiring the disease (AP/Chicago Tribune, 6/24). The study also found that nearly 25% of people older than age 60 have the disease.

After adjusting for population differences among groups, researchers found that the rate of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives was 16.5%, 11.8% among blacks, 10.4% among Hispanics, 7.5% among Asians and 6.6% among whites (Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/25).

"It is concerning to know that we have more people developing diabetes, and these data are a reminder of the importance of increasing awareness of this condition, especially among people who are at high risk," Albright wrote in a statement. She added, "On the other hand, it is good to see that more people are aware that they have diabetes" (AP/Chicago Tribune, 6/25).

Diabetes Data and Trends information is available online at CDC's Web site.

NBC's "Nightly News" on Tuesday included coverage of the study and comments from David Nathan of Massachusetts General Hospital and CDC's Ann Albright (Bazell, "Nightly News," CBS, 6/24).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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