The rate of diagnosed diabetes cases could be plateauing, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—but the numbers of diagnosed cases still are alarmingly high.
The nationally representative data, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest a potential slowing in the diabetes epidemic. However, incidence rates continue to rise among some groups, including Hispanic and non-Hispanic black adults and people with less than a high school education.
Despite a slowing of diagnosed cases, studies suggest diabetes prevalence has as much as tripled in recent decades, and data show about two in five Americans will develop type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives. An estimated 86 million Americans have prediabetes, but only one in nine of these people knows they are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
“While this news is encouraging, our work is more important now than ever,” said Ann Albright, PhD, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation. “These evolving trends show we’re moving in the right direction, but millions of people are still diagnosed with diabetes yearly. We need to fortify our efforts to see a real, sustained decrease in new cases of diagnosed diabetes.”
The report includes this recommendation: “In light of the well-known excess risk of amputation, blindness, end-stage renal disease, disability, mortality and health care costs associated with diabetes, the doubling of diabetes incidence and prevalence ensures that diabetes will remain a major public health problem that demands effective prevention and management programs.”
The AMA is working to prevent diabetes through its Improving Health Outcomes initiative, partnering with the YMCA of the USA to increase referrals to the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, an evidence-based lifestyle intervention that is part of the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program.
Physician practice sites in four states—Delaware, Florida, Indiana and Minnesota—are screening patients for prediabetes and referring them to the program at a local YMCA. Participating physicians receive updates on their patients’ progress to incorporate into their care plans.
Another recent study found that diabetes prevention program participants continued to see the benefits of the program long after they participated. Overall, participants saw a 27 percent reduction in the rate of type 2 diabetes even 15 years after they started the program.
