Diabetes Facts

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease in which the body either fails to produce any insulin (type 1, also called insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset), or the insulin that it does produce is unable to adequately trigger the conversion of food into energy (type 2, also called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset).

Who has diabetes?

Federal statistics estimate that 18.2 million children and adults in the United States ? 6.3 percent of the population ? have diabetes. While an estimated 13 million of these have been diagnosed with diabetes, 5.2 million are estimated to have type 2 diabetes and not know it. Most people with diabetes have type 2; an estimated 800,000 have type 1. About 1 million people age 20 or older will be diagnosed with diabetes this year. Diabetes is more prevalent among Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders. An estimated 20 million people in the U.S have pre-diabetes, a condition that occurs when one has higher than normal blood glucose levels, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having type 2 diabetes. (Research shows that if action is taken to control glucose levels, those with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes.)

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Weight loss
• Blurred vision
• Increased hunger
• Frequent skin, bladder or gum infections
• Irritability
• Tingling or numbness in hands or feet
• Slow to heal wounds
• Extreme unexplained fatigue
• Sometimes there are no symptoms (type 2 diabetes)Who is at greatest risk for developing diabetes?

People who:

• are 45 or over
• are overweight
• are habitually physically inactive
• have previously been identified as having IFG (impaired fasting glucose) or IGT (impaired glucose tolerance)
• have a family history of diabetes
• have members of certain ethnic groups (including Asian American, African-American, Hispanic American, and Native American)
• have had gestational diabetes or have given birth to a child weighing more than 9 pounds
• have elevated blood pressure
• have an HDL cholesterol level (the ?good? cholesterol) of 35 mg/dl or lower and/or a triglyceride level of 250 mg/dl or higher
• have polycystic ovary syndrome
• have a history of vascular disease

What are the long-term complications of diabetes?

• People with diabetes are two to four more times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than those who don't have diabetes
• Diabetes is the leading cause of new blindness among adults between 20 and 74 years old.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of treated end-stage kidney disease in the U.S.
• More than 60 percent of the limb amputations in the U.S. occur among people with diabetes
• About 60-70 percent of the people with diabetes have mild to severe nerve damage

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