DM

THE REALITY

Nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes, and about one-fourth of them don't know that they have the
disease.

By 2050, an estimated 39 million U.S. residents are expected to have diagnosed diabetes.

American Indians, African Americans, and Hispanics are about 2 times more likely than whites to have
diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, once believed to affect only adults, is being diagnosed increasingly among young
people.

One in three U.S. children born in 2000 could develop diabetes during their lifetime.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death. Over 200,000 people die each year of diabetes-related
complications.

Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, new blindness in adults, and leg and foot amputations
unrelated to injury.

Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, which are responsible for about 65% of deaths
among people with diabetes.

Periodontal disease is more common in people with diabetes. Almost one third of people with diabetes
have severe periodontal disease. Persons with poorly controlled diabetes (A1c>9%) were nearly 3 times
more likely to have severe periodontitis than those without diabetes.

About 18,000 women with preexisting diabetes deliver babies each year, and 135,000 expectant
mothers learn they have gestational diabetes. Diabetes increases a woman’s risk for pregnancy
complications and increases her child’s risk for obesity and diabetes later in life.

Prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in the United States: Age 20 or older: 10.7% of all
people in this age group have diabetes.

Age 60 years or older: 23.1% of all people in this age group have diabetes.

An estimated 57 million Americans have a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes—a condition known
as pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes have impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose
tolerance (IGT), or both.

http://www.diabetesatwork.org/GettingStarted/MakingTheBusinessCase.cfm