DIABETES FACTS

DIABETES FACTS
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. This number is likely to more than double by 2030.
In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million people died from diabetes.1
Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.
Almost half of diabetes deaths occur in people under the age of 70 years; 55% of diabetes deaths are in women.
WHO projects that diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years without urgent action. Most notably, diabetes deaths are projected to increase by over 80% in upper-middle income countries between 2006 and 2015.
WHAT ARE COMMON CONSEQUENCES OF DIABETES?
Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. After 15 years of diabetes, approximately 2% of people become blind, and about 10% develop severe visual impairment.
Diabetic neuropathy is damage to the nerves as a result of diabetes, and affects up to 50% of people with diabetes. Although many different problems can occur as a result of diabetic neuropathy, common symptoms are tingling, pain, numbness, or weakness in the feet and hands.
Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers and eventual limb amputation.
Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure. 10-20% of people with diabetes die of kidney failure.
Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 50% of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease (primarily heart disease and stroke).
The overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double the risk of their peers without diabetes.
WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC BURDEN OF DIABETES?
Diabetes and its complications impose significant economic consequences on individuals, families, health systems and countries.
WHO estimates that over the next 10 years (2006-2015), China will lose $ 558 billion in foregone national income due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone.
HOW CAN THE BURDEN OF DIABETES BE REDUCED?
Without urgent action, diabetes-related deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years.
To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:
Achieve and maintain healthy body weight.
Be physically active - at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control.
Early diagnosis can be accomplished through relatively inexpensive blood testing.
Treatment of diabetes involves lowering blood glucose and the levels of other known risk factors that damage to blood vessels. Tobacco cessation is also important to avoid complications.
Interventions that are both cost saving and feasible in developing countries include:
Moderate blood glucose control. People with type 1 diabetes require insulin; people with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, but may also require insulin;
Blood pressure control;
Foot care.
Other cost saving interventions include:
Screening for retinopathy (which causes blindness);
Blood lipid control (to regulate cholesterol levels);
Screening for early signs of diabetes-related kidney disease.
These measures should be supported by a healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use.

Quick Statistics

Men are more likely to experience hearing loss than women.
Of adults ages 65 and older in the United States, 12.3 percent of men and nearly 14 percent of women are affected by tinnitus. Tinnitus is identified more frequently in white individuals and the prevalence of tinnitus is almost twice as frequent in the South as in the Northeast.
Approximately 17 percent (36 million) of American adults report some degree of hearing loss.
There is a strong relationship between age and reported hearing loss: 18 percent of American adults 45-64 years old, 30 percent of adults 65-74 years old, and 47 percent of adults 75 years old or older have a hearing impairment.
About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing. Nine out of every 10 children who are born deaf are born to parents who can hear.
The NIDCD estimates that approximately 15 percent (26 million) of Americans between the ages of 20 and 69 have high frequency hearing loss due to exposure to loud sounds or noise at work or in leisure activities.
Only 1 out of 5 people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one.
Three out of 4 children experience ear infection (otitis media) by the time they are 3 years old.
Roughly 25 million Americans have experienced tinnitus.
More than 112,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants. In the United States, roughly 23,000 adults and 15,500 children have received them.
Approximately 4,000 new cases of sudden deafness occur each year in the United States. Hearing loss affects only 1 ear in 9 out of 10 people who experience sudden deafness. Only 10 to 15 percent of patients with sudden deafness know what caused their loss.
Approximately 615,000 individuals have been diagnosed with Ménière's disease in the United States. Another 45,500 are newly diagnosed each year.
Approximately 3 to 6 percent of all deaf children and perhaps another 3 to 6 percent of hard-of-hearing children have Usher syndrome. In developed countries such as the United States, about 4 babies in every 100,000 births have Usher syndrome.
One out of every 100,000 individuals per year develops an acoustic neurinoma (vestibular schwannoma).

Compiled by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).