Center of Excellence on Health Disparities

FACT SHEET
		Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that helps the body's tissues absorb glucose (sugar) so it can be used as a source of energy. The condition may also develop if muscle, fat, and liver cells respond poorly to insulin. In people with diabetes, glucose levels build up in the blood and urine, causing excessive urination, thirst, hunger, and problems with fat and protein metabolism.
Diabetes usually appears as one of two major types: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Each year, about one million Americans learn that they have the disease, and more than 400,000 people die from diabetes each year in the United States.

RISK FACTOR

Heart disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related deaths. Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes.
The risk of stroke is two to four times higher among people with diabetes.
About 65% of deaths among people with diabetes are due to heart disease or stroke.
About 73% of adults with diabetes have blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 or use prescription medications for hypertension.
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness among adults 20-74 years of age.
Diabetes causes from 12,000-24,000 new cases of blindness each year.
Diabetes is the leading cause of renal disease (about 43%).
About 60-70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage.
More than 60% of non-traumatic lower limb amputations in the United States occur among people with diabetes.
Periodontal/gum diseases are more common among people with diabetes than those without diabetes.
Poorly controlled diabetes before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause major birth defects in 5-10% of pregnancies and spontaneous abortions in 15-20% of pregnancies.
Diabetes is most common in adults 45 years of age or older; in people who are overweight or physically inactive; in individuals who have an immediate family member with diabetes, and in people with African American, Hispanic, or Native American descent.

INCIDENCE

About 206,000 people under 20 years of age have diabetes.
Approximately 1 in every 400-500 children and adolescents has Type 1 diabetes .
About 8.7% of all people, age 20 years or older, have diabetes.
About 18.3% of all people, age 60 years or older, have diabetes.
About 17 million people, in the United States , suffer from diabetes.
Every year about 1 million people learn that they have diabetes.
In the United States , Type 1 diabetes accounts for 5-10% of all diabetes cases.
In the United States , Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95% of all diabetes cases (about 13 million people).

MORTALITY

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States .
Diabetes kills over 400,000 United States residents each year.
Death rates are two times higher in African American populations than they are in white populations
Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about two times that of people without diabetes.

DISPARITIES

Approximately 2.8 million African Americans have diabetes; 13% of all African Americans
On average, African Americans are twice as likely to have diabetes as whiter Americans of similar age.
Diabetes-associated renal failure is 2.5 times higher in African American populations than it is in Hispanic populations.
1 in every 4 African American women, over 55 years of age, has diabetes.
African Americans with diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes complications and experience greater disability from the complications than white Americans with diabetes.