Diabetes, A Global Epidemic

Abstract

The International Diabetes Federation notes that diabetes is a global epidemic affecting approximately 537 million adults (20-79 years) worldwide. The total number of people living with diabetes is projected to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045. In the United States, 37.3 million people (about 1 in 10) have diabetes, and the incidence is 1.4 million every year. 38.0% (96 million) aged 18 and above have prediabetes (National diabetes statistics report, 01/2020). More than 8 in 10 do not know they have prediabetes (About Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes | National Diabetes Prevention Program | Diabetes | CDC, 2022). The estimated cost of care in 2012 was $ 240 billion, which increased to $327 billion in 2017 (Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017 | Diabetes Care | American Diabetes Association, n.d.). It has been the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. since 2019 (Statistics About Diabetes / ADA, n. d.). Epidemiological research to assess the effect of lifestyle modification on the development of T2DM produced evidence that a structured lifestyle modification program can cut the risk of developing T2DM by 58% for people under 60 and 71% for people over 60 years old (CDC - About the Program - National Diabetes Prevention Program - (Diabetes DDT, 2021). Lifestyle intervention is a safe, cost-effective, and efficacious way of diabetes prevention (Glechner et al., 2018). It is recommended that early screening of patients with prediabetes that exhibit risk for T2DM and implementing lifestyle modifications or referral to the National Diabetes Prevention Program will help address this public health issue. More training and an increased workforce are needed to open conversation in T2DM prevention strategies.