America Shows Sharp Increase in Number of Diabetes Patientsz

The latest government figures have shown that the number of people suffering from diabetes in America has gone up to 24 million which is a sharp increase of 3 million from the study made two years ago. This goes to show that almost 8% of the American population is suffering from this disease. Out of this a large number of people are affected by Type2 diabetes. Type-2 diabetes is mainly associated with weight problems and insufficient exercise. A study done in the year also shows that almost 57 million people show a condition of pre-diabetes i.e. where they are prone to be affected by the disease. These people fall in the high risk group. Also about 25% people are not even aware of the fact that they are suffering from the disease. There has been a significant drop of 5% from studies conducted 2 years ago.

Studies have also gone on to show that in the year 2007 almost 25% people in the age group of 60 years or older were diabetic. The people most affected by the disease are the Native Americans and also those of Alaska. The figure is as high as 16.5%. Amongst the blacks about 12% have the disease and in case of Hispanics the figure is about 10%. The figure reduces significantly when it comes to Asian Americans where only 7.5% people have diabetes and it drops still further to 6% in case of Whites.

Diabetes is the 7th reason for death in the United States. The insulin produced in the body at times is insufficient or in some cases is ignored by the cells and this situation of lack of insulin causes diabetes. Diabetes can lead to other diseases such as kidney problems, eye problems and even heart related issues. The fact that the number of people who have diabetes is growing and immediate measures need to be taken to increase the awareness about the disease to more number of people and at the same time people who fall into the high risk category definitely need to know everything related to the disease.

With government taking the required steps by creating awareness programs about diabetes, now the number of people who know about their medical condition has increased significantly which goes to show that the programs are effective. People are now also in a better position to handle their condition and the complications that might arise with it.