What are the facts and statistics about diabetes? How does diabetes impact your health and lifestyle? Get the answers you need to take charge of your health.

Understanding Diabetes: The Basics

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Most people’s bodies naturally produce the hormone insulin, which helps convert sugars from the food we eat into energy that the body can use or store for later. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make insulin or doesn’t use its insulin well, causing your blood sugar to rise. High blood sugar levels can cause serious health problems over time.

There are three main types of diabetes:

• Type 1 Diabetes: The body can’t make insulin. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to survive.
• Type 2 Diabetes: The body doesn’t use insulin well. The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes.
• Prediabetes: The body may not be able to fully use the insulin it makes, or it may not make enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels in a healthy range. People with prediabetes have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

The Startling Statistics on Diabetes

The National Diabetes Statistics Report provides some eye-opening facts and figures:

• 37.3 million Americans – about 1 in 10 – have diabetes.
• About 1 in 5 people with diabetes don’t know they have it.
• 96 million American adults – more than 1 in 3 – have prediabetes.
• More than 8 in 10 adults with prediabetes don’t know they have it.
• In 2019, about 1.4 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed.
• For people aged 10 to 19 years, new cases of type 2 diabetes increased for all racial and ethnic minority groups, especially Black teens.
• 69% of adults with diagnosed diabetes had high blood pressure, and 44% had high cholesterol.
• 39% had chronic kidney disease, and 12% reported having vision impairment or blindness.
• Diabetes was highest among Black and Hispanic/Latino adults, in both men and women.

The Serious Impacts of Diabetes

Diabetes and its related health complications can be severe and costly:

• Diabetes is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.
• Diabetes costs a total estimated $327 billion in medical costs and lost work and wages.
• People with diagnosed diabetes have more than twice the average medical costs of people without diabetes.
• Diabetes can take a serious toll on your quality of life, affecting your physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

How Can I Prevent or Manage Diabetes?

The good news is that there are steps you can take to prevent or manage diabetes and its complications:

1. If you have prediabetes, the National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you take action to prevent type 2 diabetes.
2. If you already have diabetes, you can learn about diabetes self-management education and support services to help you manage your condition.
3. Regardless of your diabetes status, making healthy lifestyle changes like eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise can go a long way in preventing or delaying the onset of diabetes.

What Causes Diabetes?

Diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to properly use or produce the hormone insulin, which is responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. The exact causes of diabetes can vary depending on the type:

• Type 1 Diabetes: Caused by an autoimmune reaction that destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The exact trigger is unknown, but it’s likely a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
• Type 2 Diabetes: Caused by insulin resistance, where the body doesn’t use insulin effectively, and often exacerbated by factors like obesity, lack of physical activity, and poor diet.
• Prediabetes: Caused by a combination of insulin resistance and the body’s inability to make enough insulin to overcome that resistance.

The Long-Term Effects of Unmanaged Diabetes

If left unmanaged, high blood sugar levels from diabetes can lead to a host of serious health complications over time, including:

• Eye damage (diabetic retinopathy) that can result in blindness
• Kidney damage (diabetic nephropathy) that can lead to kidney failure
• Nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy) that can cause pain, numbness, and weakness in the extremities
• Cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke
• Amputation of toes, feet, or legs due to poor circulation and nerve damage
• Increased risk of certain types of cancer

The good news is that by taking proactive steps to manage your diabetes through medication, diet, exercise, and regular checkups, you can significantly reduce your risk of developing these devastating complications.

The Facts, Stats, and Impacts of Diabetes

The more you know about diabetes, the more you can do about preventing it, delaying it, or lessening its harmful effects.

Chances are, you know someone with diabetes. It may be a friend, a family member, or even you. And because the best way to prevent or manage any harmful health condition is to be informed, we want to help you be in the know. Learn about the facts, stats, and impacts of diabetes.

The year 2021 marked the 100^th anniversary of the discovery of insulin. Before insulin was discovered, people with diabetes didn’t live long lives. Since then, we’ve come a long way in reducing the toll diabetes takes on people’s daily lives. But the fight isn’t over.

Today, the number of people with diabetes is higher than it has ever been. And it’s not just your grandparents you have to worry about. People are developing diabetes at younger ages and at higher rates. But the more you know about diabetes, the more you can do about preventing it, delaying it, or lessening its harmful effects.

The Facts

Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Most people’s bodies naturally produce the hormone insulin, which helps convert sugars from the food we eat into energy that the body can use or store for later. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn’t make insulin or doesn’t use its insulin well, causing your blood sugar to rise. High blood sugar levels can cause serious health problems over time.

With type 1 diabetes, the body can’t make insulin. If you’re diagnosed with type 1, you’ll need to take insulin every day to survive. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well. The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes.

With prediabetes, your body may not be able to fully use the insulin you make, or your body may not make enough insulin to keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range. People who have prediabetes have blood sugar levels that are higher than normal—but not yet high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

The Stats

The National Diabetes Statistics Report provides information on the prevalence (existing cases) and incidence (new cases) of diabetes and prediabetes, risk factors for health complications from diabetes, and diabetes-related deaths and costs.

Key findings include:

• 37.3 million Americans—about 1 in 10—have diabetes.
  • About 1 in 5 people with diabetes don’t know they have it.
• 96 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes.
  • More than 8 in 10 adults with prediabetes don’t know they have it.
• In 2019, about 1.4 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed.
• For people aged 10 to 19 years, new cases of type 2 diabetes increased for all racial and ethnic minority groups, especially Black teens.
• For adults with diagnosed diabetes:
  • 69% had high blood pressure, and 44% had high cholesterol.
  • 39% had chronic kidney disease, and 12% reported having vision impairment or blindness.
  • Diabetes was highest among Black and Hispanic/Latino adults, in both men and women.

The Impacts

Diabetes and diabetes-related health complications can be serious and costly. The eighth leading cause of death in the United States, diabetes costs a total estimated $327 billion in medical costs and lost work and wages. In fact, people with diagnosed diabetes have more than twice the average medical costs that people without diabetes have.

Diabetes can take a serious toll on your quality of life, affecting your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. But though there is no cure for diabetes, there are things you can do to manage it and its health complications. And if you have prediabetes, there are things you can do to help prevent it from becoming type 2 diabetes.

In the Know

Now that you’re in the diabetes know, you can take charge to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and its complications. Find out how the National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you take charge. And if you already have diabetes, you can learn more about diabetes self-management education and support services to help manage your diabetes.

What Is Diabetes? – NIDDK

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Glucose is your body’s main source of energy. Your body can make glucose, but glucose also comes from the food you eat.

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that helps glucose get into your cells to be used for energy. If you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough—or any—insulin, or doesn’t use insulin properly. Glucose then stays in your blood and doesn’t reach your cells.

Diabetes raises the risk for damage to the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart. Diabetes is also linked to some types of cancer. Taking steps to prevent or manage diabetes may lower your risk of developing diabetes health problems.

Diabetes is a disease that occurs when your blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high.

What are the different types of diabetes?

The most common types of diabetes are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes

If you have type 1 diabetes, your body makes little or no insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2 diabetes

If you have type 2 diabetes, the cells in your body don’t use insulin properly. The pancreas may be making insulin but is not making enough insulin to keep your blood glucose level in the normal range. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you have risk factors, such as overweight or obesity, and a family history of the disease. You can develop type 2 diabetes at any age, even during childhood.

You can help delay or prevent type 2 diabetes by knowing the risk factors and taking steps toward a healthier lifestyle, such as losing weight or preventing weight gain.

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Most of the time, this type of diabetes goes away after the baby is born. However, if you’ve had gestational diabetes, you have a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Sometimes diabetes diagnosed during pregnancy is type 2 diabetes.

Prediabetes

People with prediabetes have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If you have prediabetes, you have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. You also have a higher risk for heart disease than people with normal glucose levels.

Other types of diabetes

A less common type of diabetes, called monogenic diabetes, is caused by a change in a single gene. Diabetes can also come from having surgery to remove the pancreas, or from damage to the pancreas due to conditions such as cystic fibrosis or pancreatitis.

How common are diabetes and prediabetes?

More than 133 million Americans have diabetes or prediabetes. ¹

As of 2019, 37.3 million people—or 11.3% of the U.S. population—had diabetes.¹ More than 1 in 4 people over the age of 65 had diabetes. Nearly 1 in 4 adults with diabetes didn’t know they had the disease.²

About 90% to 95% of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes.³

In 2019, 96 million adults—38% of U.S. adults—had prediabetes.⁴

What other health problems can people with diabetes develop?

Over time, high blood glucose can damage your heart, kidneys, feet, and eyes. If you have diabetes, you can take steps to lower your chances of developing diabetes health problems by taking steps to improve your health and learning how to manage the disease. Managing your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels can help prevent future health problems.

Managing your blood glucose levels can help prevent future health problems, such as damage to your eyes.

References

harmful myths and important facts about sugar

The fight against sugar in all its manifestations does not prevent it from occupying an important place in our diet and in our prejudices. We figure out where the truth is, and where harmful delusions are. This article was first published in 2018.

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I don’t eat sugar

Disputes about how harmful or, on the contrary, sugar is necessary for a person, confusion of concepts often creeps in. Some mean all carbohydrates in general and the glycemic index of foods, that is, their ability to increase blood sugar, others mean added sugar, the very one that we put in tea and on which we make jam.

Sugars are generally referred to as all simple short chain carbohydrates. Monosaccharides, the simplest of them, break down and enter the bloodstream faster than others – for example, they include fructose and glucose. Disaccharides are carbohydrates consisting of two monosaccharides (more precisely, monosaccharide residues). Like monosaccharides, they are sweet-tasting and break down quickly into the bloodstream, such as sucrose, lactose, and maltose.

Polysaccharides are complex carbohydrates, they do not have a sweet taste, they are broken down much longer and the blood sugar level is kept at a stable level.

When we say that we don’t eat sugar, most often we mean that we have given up sweets, we don’t drink sweetened coffee, we don’t dream about chocolate and we don’t take honey for preventive purposes. But this does not mean that sugar is excluded in this way: if we drink coffee with milk, even skimmed milk, we drink it with lactose, the sugar found in milk and dairy products. If we drink a glass of kefir at night, we also get a portion of lactose with it. If we drink an invigorating smoothie or a glass of freshly squeezed juice for breakfast, then we get an impressive portion of fructose – the sweetest simple sugar. And while we can consider that these are all “useful products”, the body does not care. He gets more or less the same dose of sugar, which causes a similar spike in his blood levels as from a chocolate candy. And sometimes more.

Sugar is good for the mind

Probably everyone who has gone to school or ever taken an exam has come across this belief. The brain does need glucose, but that doesn’t mean it needs candy. In addition to getting enough from complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, the body is able to produce glucose from non-carbohydrate compounds. This process is called gluconeogenesis, and it is naturally triggered if there are not enough carbohydrates in the diet and glycogen stores are depleted. Therefore, even if your diet consists only of fiber and proteins, the brain will not lose the ability to think and successfully manage the body.

Moreover, in recent years, more and more studies have appeared confirming that a low-carb and high-fat diet can improve brain function, stop inflammation in tissues and organs, and even reverse some diseases (including type 2 diabetes). So, the same coffee with heavy cream seems to be healthier than the usual latte.

Sugar brings old age closer

This is true, but the ability of sugar to “candy” proteins, which is called glycosylation, is to blame. Glucose and other simple carbohydrates, when attached to a protein molecule, such as collagen, make it brittle, vulnerable, and inelastic. The same collagen is included in the structure of blood vessels, skin, cartilage, bones, and its sugaring directly affects their youth and healthy functioning. As a result of these processes, the sensitivity of nerve endings is lost – for example, vision decreases. And by the level of “sugar content” of the protein, it partially measures the conditional “aging” of the body – first of all, by analyzing glycosylated hemoglobin. If its indicators are high, it’s time to change your eating habits and reduce the amount of simple carbohydrates in your diet.

Sweeteners are also harmful, natural sugar is better

Sweeteners are one of the hot topics in dietology. Some are fiercely against “this chemistry”, others argue that the time of harmful and untested substitutes is in the past. The truth is about in the middle. For example, one of the most famous substitutes – aspartame – survived fame, oblivion, and subsequent rehabilitation. It is considered harmless, but only if not exposed to heat – it leads to the possible carcinogenicity of aspartame. So, when buying a sweet soda based on it, it is better to make sure that it was kept cool.

Another substitute – erythritol – is practically indistinguishable from sugar, allows you to replace it in baking and, for example, chocolate. True, it practically does not dissolve, therefore it requires very fine grinding (but it behaves well in baking). Stevia, a sweet herb from which the substance stevioside is obtained, is considered absolutely safe, but has a specific flavor that not everyone likes. But fructose, abundantly presented on the shelves with dietary products in supermarkets, is the most sugar. The only way she should enter the body is fruits, berries and vegetables. And honey, if there are no allergies and other contraindications.

5 facts about sugar that you didn’t know before

Everyone talks about it, everyone is afraid of it, but it’s almost impossible to exclude it from your life – it’s everywhere. Even if you are the most vigilant adherent of a healthy lifestyle, you somehow consume sugar, which is found in sweeteners and in most familiar products. ELLE tells you what you need to know about sugar so that it stops being your enemy and turns into a pleasant addition to the diet.

1. The Hidden Threat

According to statistics, sugar is added to 74% of all ready-made products that end up on store shelves. If, when accounting for the sugar eaten per day, you counted only those few spoons that were added to food and drinks during the day, then this is self-deception. The recommended daily intake of sugar is 30 grams (6 teaspoons). But when you factor in snacks at work, desserts at lunch, and sugary yogurt for breakfast, the real figure is truly frightening: on average, every Russian citizen eats a total of 100 to 140 grams of sugar per day. Monitor your own diet throughout the day, carefully recording all the sugar in your food. Most likely, the result will unpleasantly surprise you.

2. How would it be in Russian?

Manufacturers use at least 61 synonyms for the word “sugar” on product labels to confuse vigilant shoppers. Some of the most popular sweeteners include glucose, dextrose, maltose, molasses, sorbitol, fructose, barley malt, and a variety of syrups from corn to cane.

3. Deception

One of the main sweeteners that inspires confidence in almost everyone is fructose. Despite the harmless name, which evokes associations with healthy fruits, fructose has almost the same effect on the liver as alcohol does: it destroys it and causes pathologies.

4. Big races

The claim that sugar helps with bad moods is not true. The quick effect of a chocolate bar or cookie, whether it is an energy boost or an attack of euphoria, is associated with an increase in insulin levels in the blood, which is invariably followed by a sharp decline: after all, as a result, sugar drops below the norm, which leads to dizziness, apathy, fatigue, nausea, severe irritability and entails other symptoms of hypoglycemia.