U.S. Diabetes Rate Doubles In Last Decade

Obesity Seen As Leading Cause; South The Hardest-Hit Region

(AP)  The nation's obesity epidemic is exacting a heavy toll: the rate of new diabetes cases nearly doubled in the United States in the past 10 years, the government said Thursday.

The highest rates were in the South, according to the first state-by-state review of new diagnoses. The worst was in West Virginia, where about 13 in 1,000 adults were diagnosed with the disease in 2005-07. The lowest was in Minnesota, where the rate was 5 in 1,000.

Nationally, the rate of new cases climbed from about 5 per 1,000 in the mid-1990s to 9 per 1,000 in the middle of this decade.

Roughly 90 percent of cases are Type 2 diabetes, the form linked to obesity.

The findings dovetail with trends seen in obesity and lack of exercise - two health measures where Southern states also rank at the bottom.

"It isn't surprising the problem is heaviest in the South - no pun intended," agreed Matt Petersen, who oversees data and statistics for the American Diabetes Association.

The study, led by Karen Kirtland of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides an up-to-date picture of where the disease is exploding. The information should be a big help as the government and health insurance companies decide where to focus prevention campaigns, Petersen said.

Diabetes was the nation's seventh-leading cause of death in 2006, according to the CDC. More than 23 million Americans have diabetes, and the number is rapidly growing. About 1.6 million new cases were diagnosed among adults last year.

Type 2 diabetics do not produce or use insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar into energy. The illness can cause sugar to build up in the body, leading to complications such as heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and poor circulation that leads to foot amputations.

The study involved a random-digit-dialed survey of more than 260,000 adults. Participants were asked if they had ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes, and when the diagnosis was made. The comparisons between 1995-97 and 2005-07 covered only the 33 states for which the CDC had complete data for both time periods.

The researchers had data for 40 states for the years 2005-07.

West Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee had the highest rates, all at 11 cases per 1,000 or higher. Puerto Rico was about as high as West Virginia. Minnesota, Hawaii and Wyoming had the lowest rates.

It is not entirely clear why some states were worse than others. Older people, blacks and Hispanics tend to have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes, and the South has large concentrations of all three groups. However, West Virginia is overwhelmingly white.

The report asked about diagnosed diabetes only. Because an estimated one in four diabetics have not been diagnosed, the findings probably underestimate the problem, said Angela Liese, a diabetes researcher at the University of South Carolina.

The underestimates may be particularly bad in the rural South and other areas where patients have trouble getting health care, she noted.

[randeg1]

It''s scary that the rate for diabetes in the US has doubled in the last decade. It is good though that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided an over-all picture as to where the most rise is so that the government and insurance companies can focus their prevention strategies in these areas. Really, everyone who is at risk should be tested so that plans to fight diabetes can be in place to prevent or delay its coming.

Evelyn Guzman
http://www.free-symptoms-of-diabetes-alert.com (If you want to visit, just click but if it doesn%u2019t work, copy and paste it onto your browser.)

[randeg1]

It''s scary that the rate for diabetes in the US has doubled in the last decade. It is good though that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has provided an over-all picture as to where the most rise is so that the government and insurance companies can focus their prevention strategies in these areas. Really, everyone who is at risk should be tested so that plans to fight diabetes can be in place to prevent or delay its coming.

Evelyn Guzman
http://www.free-symptoms-of-diabetes-alert.com (If you want to visit, just click but if it doesn%u2019t work, copy and paste it onto your browser.)

[kenhamlett]

Xlib

We are talking about the South. You may be from a state where everything works as it is supposed to and the doctors are there to educate and support you in avoiding disease. However that is not true everywhere. The general way it works is that people are not educated, are not corrected with the onset of disease and the doctors are there to rake in money to "treat" disease. People do go to doctors but lifestyle changes would cut into the profits. Thus preventing or limiting disease is not in the beat interests of the doctors, hospitals or drug companies. I have seen this pattern since my early childhood. If you want a healthy happy life head to California, Oregon or numerous other places. If you want to be treated for disease and have a poor prognosis for preventive education (any sort of education for that matter) stay in the south.
While some cases are definitely not avoidable, lifestyle changes are critically important to avoidance or control of disease. However that would change the status quo, and that is not desirable down here, at least not desirable to the dead weight leadership that can only survive by victimizing others. Now that is the way it works. In your area medicine can not do it all, here medicine does nothing that I have seen.

[xlib]

kenhamlet-diabetes is a disease that requires the person to be an active participant in the management of the disease. You have to watch your diet, monitor your blood sugar and EXERCISE. You need to go to classes the learn about your disease. You cannot continue with your same lifestyle, eating what you waant when you want, not exercise and just demand that medicine do all the work for you.
As for the south, don''t really knwo but I do know you have to get to the doctor first, and that means GOING TO THE DOCTOR.

[kenhamlett]

Diabetes is a money maker. Southerners are not going to get help from doctors. There is too much money involved and entrapment is the key to southern living...or dying.

[rational_1]

The fattening of America may be a mixed blessing. First it''ll kill us financially with the universal socialist health care that Obama will foist on us, but in the long run it just may save Social Security. The morbidly obese don''t live as long so, while they may be paying into SS, they won''t be drawing it out - more for the rest of us. How''s that for a cutthroat analysis? You don''t think Cheney''s been orchestrating this do you?

[formrusmcsgt]

Super-size your meal and guess what? You super-size your a$$.

[connapa]

Its not just the growth in obesity causing the rise in diabetes cases. Insulin production gradually decreases as you age. Combine an aging population and a rise in obesity, and the result is a higher rate of diabetes. The key to overall healthcare savings in this population is to find the diabetics early and engage them in getting (and keeping) their diabetes under the best control possible. By paying for proper healthcare early on, we will save money on treating heart attacks, kidney failure (Dialysis), and amputated limbs.

[tapsettle]

Of course diabetes has doubled in the US. The most exercise americans get these days is picking up the remote. Even the armed forces use mostly drones and aerial bombs. In a nutshell, america has become a nation of arrogant cowardly fatties.

[longtree-2009]

fat people are doing it to themselves. fat. call it what it is and stop with the pc labels of bbw, plus size, and etc. they are just fat, plain and simple. fat. very unattractively and unhealthy, fat.

[coopy67]

As the rate of diabetes increases, so does the overall cost of healthcare in the U.S.. Add that to the retiring boomers, the increase in longevity, and marketing to frighten the worried well, and you''ve got Medicare that''s not going to survive.

[bkotarsk]

10 years ago it started to increase ? Wasn''t that about the time that it was Suggested that an ASPRIN A DAY will keep the Heart Doctor AWAY ?

[sepa2]

Do not worry. Doctor visits and other services associated with this boosts productivity as per capitalism

[standlee5]

Too many potato chips not enough black eyed peas and collard greens.