QUICK REFERENCE #13: What is the prevalence of diabetes in the United States?

All Ages: 6.3% of the population (18.2 million people)

Under 20 years of age: Approximately 206,000 people; one-quarter of one percent of all people in this age group have diabetes.

Age 20 years or older: 18.0 million; 8.7% of all people in this age group have diabetes.

Age 60 years or older (subset of the above category): 8.6 million; 18.3% of all people in this age group have diabetes.

[Note: Of the 18.2 million people with diabetes, almost 5.2 million (28.8%) are undiagnosed.]

QUICK REFERENCE #14: What is diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases characterized by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Diabetes can be associated with serious complications and premature death, but people with diabetes can take steps to control the disease and lower the risk of complications.

QUICK REFERENCE #15: What are the main types of diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes was previously called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset diabetes. Type 1 diabetes develops when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells, the only cells in the body that make the hormone insulin that regulates blood glucose. This form of diabetes usually strikes children and young adults, although disease onset can occur at any age. Type 1 diabetes may account for 5% to 10% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Risk factors for type 1 diabetes may include autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors.

Type 2 diabetes was previously called non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. Type 2 diabetes may account for about 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. It usually begins as insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells do not use insulin properly. As the need for insulin rises, the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism, physical inactivity, and race/ethnicity. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians (Native Americans), and some Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders are at particularly high risk for type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in children and adolescents.

Gestational diabetes is a form of glucose intolerance that is diagnosed in some women during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes occurs more frequently among African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians (Native Americans). It is also more common among obese women and women with a family history of diabetes. During pregnancy, gestational diabetes requires treatment to normalize maternal blood glucose levels to avoid complications in the infant. After pregnancy, 5% to 10% of women with gestational diabetes are found to have type 2 diabetes. Women who have had gestational diabetes have a 20% to 50% chance of developing diabetes in the next 5-10 years.

Other specific types of diabetes result from specific genetic conditions (such as maturity-onset diabetes of youth), surgery, drugs, malnutrition, infections, and illnesses. Such types of diabetes may account for 1% to 5% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes.

SOURCE: The Complete Practitioner: Mental Health Applications (November 2003) — Excerpted and adapted from: National Diabetes Fact Sheet: General Information and National Estimates on Diabetes in the United States, 2003 (revised edition). Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004.

The full text of the Fact Sheet includes additional details related to the prevalence rates described above. The Fact Sheet also includes information on the following topics: (a) treating diabetes, (b) prediabetes: impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose, (c) prevention or delay of diabetes, (d) prevention of diabetes complications, (e) deaths among people with diabetes, and (f) complications of diabetes. The Fact Sheet is available at http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/factsheet.htm.


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