What
is diabetes? | Statistics | FAQ's
Diabetes can affect many parts of the body and
can lead to serious complications such as blindness, kidney
damage, and lower-limb amputations. Working together, people
with diabetes and their health care providers can reduce the
occurrence of these and other diabetes complications by controlling
the levels of blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids
and by receiving other preventive care practices in a timely
manner.
Glucose control
- Studies in the United States and abroad have found that
improved glycemic control benefits people with either
type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In general, every percentage
point drop in A1C blood test results (e.g., from 8 to
7 percent) reduces the risk of microvascular complications
(eye, kidney, and nerve disease) is reduced by 40 percent.
Blood pressure
control
- Blood pressure control reduces the risk of cardiovascular
disease (heart disease or stroke) among persons with diabetes
by 33 to 50 percent, and the risk of microvascular complications
(eye, kidney, and nerve disease) by about 33 percent.
- In general, for every 10 mm Hg reduction in systolic
blood pressure, the risk for any complication related
to diabetes is reduced by 12 percent.
Control of blood
lipids
- Improved control of cholesterol or blood lipids (for
example, HDL, LDL, and triglycerides) can reduce cardiovascular
complications by 20 to 50 percent.
Preventive care
practices for eyes, kidneys, and feet
- Detecting and treating diabetic eye disease with laser
therapy can reduce the development of severe vision loss
by an estimated 50 to 60 percent.
- Comprehensive foot care programs can reduce amputation
rates by 45 to 85 percent.
- Detecting and treating early diabetic kidney disease
by lowering blood pressure can reduce the decline in kidney
function by 30 to 70 percent. Treatment with ACE inhibitors
and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) are more effective
in reducing the decline in kidney function than other
blood pressure-lowering drugs.
Complications of Diabetes in the United States
Heart disease
and stroke
- Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent
of deaths in people with diabetes.
- Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates
about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes.
- The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher among people
with diabetes.
High blood pressure
- About 73 percent of adults with diabetes have blood
pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 mm Hg or use
prescription medications for hypertension.
Blindness
- Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness
among adults aged 20 to 74 years.
- Diabetic retinopathy causes 12,000 to 24,000 new cases
of blindness each year.
Kidney disease
- Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, accounting
for 44 percent of new cases in 2002.
Nervous system
disease
- About 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes have
mild to severe forms of nervous system damage. The results
of such damage include impaired sensation or pain in the
feet or hands, slowed digestion of food in the stomach,
carpal tunnel syndrome, and other nerve problems.
- Almost 30 percent of people with diabetes aged 40 years
or older have impaired sensation in the feet (i.e., at
least one area that lacks feeling).
- Severe forms of diabetic nerve disease are a major contributing
cause of lower-extremity amputations.
Amputations
- More than 60 percent of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations
occur among people with diabetes.
- In 2002, about 82,000 nontraumatic lower-limb amputations
were performed in people with diabetes.
Dental disease
- Periodontal (gum) disease is more common in people with
diabetes. Among young adults, those with diabetes have
about twice the risk of those without diabetes.
- Almost one-third of people with diabetes have severe
periodontal diseases with loss of attachment of the gums
to the teeth measuring 5 millimeters or more.
Complications
of pregnancy
- Poorly controlled diabetes before conception and during
the first trimester of pregnancy can cause major birth
defects in 5 to 10 percent of pregnancies and spontaneous
abortions in 15 to 20 percent of pregnancies.
- Poorly controlled diabetes during the second and third
trimesters of pregnancy can result in excessively large
babies, posing a risk to both mother and child.
Other complications
- Uncontrolled diabetes often leads to biochemical imbalances
that can cause acute life-threatening events, such as
diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar (nonketotic) coma.
- People with diabetes are more susceptible to many other
illnesses and, once they acquire these illnesses, often
have worse prognoses. For example, they are more likely
to die with pneumonia or influenza than people who do
not have diabetes.
Cost of diabetes in the United States, 2002
Total (direct and indirect):
$132 billion
Direct medical costs: $92 billion
Indirect costs: $40 billion (disability,
work loss, premature mortality)
These data are based on a study conducted
by the Lewin Group, Inc., for the American Diabetes Association
and are 2002 estimates of both the direct costs (cost of medical
care and services) and indirect costs (costs of short-term
and permanent disability and of premature death) attributable
to diabetes. This study uses a specific cost-of-disease methodology
to estimate the health care costs that are due to diabetes
