Age & Diabetes

Diabetes is a global epidemic. It is increasing among numerous populations and affecting people of all ages. If early-21st-century trends continue, one in three Americans will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and those with diabetes often have their lifespans diminished by about 10 to 15 years. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the direct cost of diabetes as a public health matter is about $147 billion annually. Although the risk of the more malicious type of diabetes increases with age, the number of people of all ages with diabetes is increasing.

Diabetes

• Diabetes is a disease in which the body has a shortage of, or an inability to properly use, insulin. Insulin is a hormone that allows blood sugar to enter cells and be converted to energy. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose for our bodies to use as energy. When not controlled, glucose and fats remain in the blood and begin to damage the organs of the body.

  Among the most pernicious problems associated with diabetes are blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and wounds causing amputation.

Diabetes Types by Age

• Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Often called juvenile-onset diabetes, it accounts for about 10 percent of all cases of the disease. There are no known cures for this type.

  Type 2 diabetes was once also known as adult-onset diabetes, because mostly older adults were diagnosed with it. This is no longer necessarily the case. Type 2 accounts for about 90 percent of all diabetes cases.

  Gestational diabetes, a temporary form of the disease, affects only women in their reproductive years.

  About 57 million Americans of all ages are pre-diabetic, meaning their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic.

Diabetes Risk and Incidence by Age

• Typically speaking, your risk for Type 2 diabetes increases as you get older. The average age at diagnosis is about 52. However, the number of people ages 18-44 who are diagnosed with the disease has been increasing since the late 20th century.

  The prevalence of diabetes in adults is slightly higher in women, and increases significantly the older women get. Among people 60 to 74 years old, the incidence of diabetes is as high as 20 percent to 25 percent.

  Moreover, there is evidence that Type 1 diabetes is also increasing as of May 2010. Among those younger than 15, the number of cases jumped more than 34 percent in less than five years for this age group.

Prevalence Statistics

• According to the CDC's National Diabetes Fact Sheet, the total number of diabetes patients is 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or about 7.8 percent of the population. There are 1.6 million new cases diagnosed in people 20 and older each year.

  The total number of people younger than 20 who have the disease is 186,300. About one in every 400 children and adolescents have Type 1. More than 2 million 12-19-year-olds are prediabetic.

  More than 23 million people older than 20 have diabetes. That's almost 11 percent of all people in this age bracket. Beyond age 60, more than 12 million have diabetes.

Prevent and Manage Diabetes

• Diabetes has no known cure, but Type 2 is almost completely preventable through attention to the risk factors, especially weight control. Obesity is a major contributor to the diabetes epidemic. By getting enough brisk exercise, controlling their weight and eating healthfully, people can cut their risk of the disease significantly.

  Type 1 is not preventable, but because it affects young people, especially those who are in school long stretches of the day, an individualized diabetes care plan is now standard in schools.