CDC: 26 million Americans have diabetes

Atlanta – Nearly 26 million American adults have diabetes and an additional 79 million have pre-diabetes, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet (.pdf file) issued Jan. 26.

Overall, 8.3 percent of Americans have diabetes, including 11.3 percent of adults 20 and older. Additionally, CDC estimates that approximately 27 percent of those individuals – or 7 million Americans – are not aware they have the condition.

Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal but below diabetic range. CDC research indicates pre-diabetes affects 35 percent of adults 20 and older. People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Diabetes estimates have increased since 2008, when CDC estimated 23.6 million Americans had the disease and 57 million had pre-diabetes.

Other findings include:

• An estimated 1.9 million Americans were diagnosed with diabetes in 2010.
• Racial and ethnic minorities experience higher rates of diabetes. American Indians/Alaska Natives have a 16.1 percent diabetes rate; blacks, 12.6 percent; Hispanics, 11.8 percent; Asian Americans, 8.4 percent; and non-Hispanic whites, 7.1 percent.
• Half of Americans 65 and older have diabetes, and nearly 27 percent have pre-diabetes.

According to CDC, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic lower limb amputation and new cases of blindness in the United States. It is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, and the seventh leading cause of death.