What is Diabetes? | Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes Facts | General Diabetes Facts
The Scope of Diabetes
An estimated 24 million people in the U.S., over 7% of the population, have diabetes.
As many as 3 million Americans may have type 1 diabetes.*
In the U.S., the number of people diagnosed with diabetes is growing by approximately 1 million a year.
By 2050, the number of people with diagnosed diabetes is projected to be 48.3 million.
In 2007, it was estimated that there are 246 million adults with diabetes worldwide.
By 2025, this number is projected to be 380 million people worldwide.
The Cost of Diabetes
Diabetes is single most costly chronic disease.
In 2007, diabetes accounted for $174 billion in direct and indirect costs in the U.S.
- Direct medical expenditures: $116 billion
- Indirect costs for absenteeism, disability, premature death: $58 billion
The "National Hospital Bill" for hospital stays where diabetes is the principal diagnosis totaled $11.1 billion in 2005.
The nation could save nearly $2.5 billion a year by preventing hospitalizations that are due to the severe complications of diabetes.
People with diabetes in the U.S. incur medical expenses that are approximately 2.3 times higher than people without diabetes.
The average length of hospital stays for diabetes with complications in 2005 was 4.7 days.
Over 445,000 cases of permanent disability were attributed to diabetes in 2007 at a total federal cost of $7.9 billion.
The Damage Caused by Diabetes
Attacks Many Organ Systems: Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, adult blindness, and non-traumatic amputations and a leading cause of nerve damage, stroke, and heart attacks.
Increased Risk: People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than someone without the disease.
Shortens Life: Diabetes kills one American every three minutes and is the sixth leading cause of death. Life expectancy for people with diabetes is shortened by an average of 7-10 years, and the risk of death for people with diabetes is about two times that of people without diabetes.
* Type 1 Diabetes, 2004; KRC Research for JDRF, Jan. 2005
