As Americans grow older and obesity rates continue to rise, the diagnoses of diabetes and pre-diabetes also trends upward. Nearly half of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with one of the two conditions, which can increase the risk of heart attacks, blindness, amputations and cancer.
The 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report shows 12.3 percent of Americans over age 20 have been diagnosed with diabetes. The pre-diabetes diagnosis jumped up to 37 percent from 27 percent a decade ago.
"It's bad everywhere," Phillip Kern, the director of the Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center at the University of Kentucky, told USA Today. "You almost have the perfect storm of an aging population and a population growing more obese, plus fewer reasons to move and be active, and fast food becoming more prevalent."
A diagnosis of pre-diabetes can give patients time to prevent or delay Type 2 diabetes, as long as they make changes to their diet and exercise. A decrease of 5 to 7 percent body weight and at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise can reduce a person's chances of developing diabetes. Without these lifestyle changes, 30 percent of people with pre-diabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes within five years, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We've proven (pre-diabetes) is an intervention time," Matthew Petersen told USA Today. He is the managing director of medical information and professional engagement at the American Diabetes Association.
About 10 percent of the 86 million adults with pre-diabetes go undiagnosed. Programs promoting healthier lifestyles could reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by almost 60 percent, according to USA Today. Any reduction could save lives and decrease the $245 billion spent on diagnosed diabetes last year.
"What we are heading toward is much higher health care costs and much more disability," said Sathya Krishnasamy, an endocrinologist with University of Louisville Physicians. "We need to make major, drastic changes as a community and as a nation."
