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Number of Americans with diabetes could triple by 2050
As many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by the year 2050, federal officials announced Friday, in a dramatic revision of earlier projections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1 in 10 have diabetes now, but the number could grow to 1 in 5 or even 1 in 3 by mid-century if current trends continue.
The agency’s projections have been a work in progress. The last revision put the number at 39 million in 2050. The new estimate takes it to the range of 76 million to 100 million.
An estimated 24 million Americans have diabetes currently.
The new CDC calculation accounts for people who have diabetes but are undiagnosed—a group that wasn’t figured into earlier estimates, explained Edward W. Gregg, chief of the CDC branch that handles diabetes epidemiology and statistics.
Also, the researchers used new population growth estimates for the elderly and minorities, who have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, he said.
One more factor: Diabetics are living longer, thanks to improvements in medical care, he added.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar. It was the nation’s seventh leading cause of death in 2007.
In the classic form of diabetes, traditionally diagnosed in children or young adults, the body does not produce enough of a hormone called insulin to help sugar get into cells. That’s Type 1 diabetes.
Another form of diabetes, Type 2, now accounts for about 95 percent of cases. In that kind, the body’s cells resist insulin’s attempts to transport sugar. Type 2 is most common in people who are overweight and obese, in people 60 and older, and in African-Americans and other minority groups.
The growth in U.S. diabetes cases has been closely tied to escalating obesity rates. Recent CDC data suggests obesity rates may have recently leveled off. But the new estimates should hold up even if obesity rates remain static, CDC officials said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
back to top5 Comments to “Number of Americans with diabetes could triple by 2050”
“Type 2 is most common in people who are overweight and obese, in people 60 and older, and in African-Americans and other minority groups.”
******However, since MANY obese, old, and African-American people do NOT have the disease, and since at least 20% of the people who do are NOT obese, old, or African-American, they should be looking for what is causing it rather than what is correlated with it.
In other words, something in these people’s genes or eating habits or life-styles may be causing BOTH the diabetes and the weight gain.
I have Type 2, and am overweight, although I’ve had blood sugar issues all my life, even when I was a size 5.
My son has it, and he is not overweight.
My husband does not have it and he is very overweight.
So long as we want to find a “bad guy” (nasty overweight people), then we will not do much about stopping the epidemic. When we start to look at what has changed in American life that might be causing the upsurge in both diabetes and obesity, then maybe we will begin to get somewhere.
Food additives? Corn syrup (in EVERYTHING)?
Or???
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THANK YOU TAMMY. I was so crossed eyed with I don’t know what that I couldn’t respond.
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The Judge I worked for got diabetes at age 49. He was still thin when I met him in his early 60s, and truly thin was another judge who also had diabetes. He never gained weight as he aged. I once asked my judge if I could sugar my way into, and he said no — so I had another piece of chocolate cake. I do believe that we should watch what we eat, but I’ve known plenty of people who are overweight who didn’t have it and had lower blood pressure.
There is only ONE group of people who come after us for this sort of thing: liberals. The liberal politicians are always looking for a way to tax us, and your basic liberal needs to control everybody’s life. You can’t liberalize every aspect of life and destroy the family and then not accept the consequences. If you don’t want peope sitting down at the table as a family, don’t expect them to eat right either. You can’t have it both ways.
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So, it is liberals that make it so families can not sit down together at night for dinner – it has nothing to do with personal responsibility or decisions of the family! Oh, and they cause diabetes as well. How do you live with such venom in your heart?
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Tammy,
There is a statistical correlation between obesity and diabetes. There is probably one between age and diabetes as well. But logic dictates that correlation does not imply causation. That being said, I suspect that the scientist studying this understand the logical fallacy and can account for it. It is obvious that obesity does not cause diabetes every time but in general I think this is a contributing factor. No matter what there needs to be more study into the causes of obesity as well. It is obviously more than just eating too much and not exercising enough. Corm syrup may be a part of that equation.
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