Diabetes Facts From the ADA – Total Costs in US = $174B

I found this list of diabetes fact from the American Diabetes Association in an article I was reading:

• 25.8M children and adults in the US have diabetes (8.3% of the population).  This includes 7.0M who haven’t yet been diagnosed.
• 1.9M new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people 20+ in 2010.
• 215,000 or 0.26% of all people under 20 have diabetes.
• In 2007, diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death on 71,382 death certificates and as a contributing factor on another 160.022 death certificates.
• Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates 2-4x higher than adults without diabetes.
• The risk for stroke is 2-4x higher for people with diabetes.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among adults ages 20-74.
• Diabetes is the leading cause of failure accounting for 44% of new cases in 2008.
• Total cost of diagnosed diabetes in the US was $174B in 2007.

No wonder this is such a focus in the Medicare Star Ratings!