Face the facts on diabetes. These important facts about diabetes will open your eyes to the diabetes epidemic and open your mind to possible solutions. The real "fact" is that diabetes is a deadly disease.

As you're learning about type 2 diabetes statistics, realize that you have quite a few choices. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented and can definitely be controlled.

Use these facts on diabetes to educate yourself on the problem... then use the rest of this site to find the solution.

Facts on Diabetes

• Diabetes currently affects 246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025
  

• 23.6 million children and adults in the United States (8% of the population) have diabetes
  
  
• In 2007, the five countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes are India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million), the United States (19.2 million), Russia (9.6 million) and Germany (7.4 million)
  
  
• Diabetes has increased 13.5% from 2005-2007
  
  
• 17.9 million people have been diagnosed
  
  
• 5.7 million people are undiagnosed
  
  
• 57 million people have early diabetes (pre-diabetes)
  
  
• In 2007, 1.6 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older
  
  
• Type 1 diabetes affects about one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents
  
  
• 1 in 6 overweight adolescents (over 2 million) aged 12-19 have early diabetes (pre-diabetes)
  
  
• Type 2 diabetes, although still rare, is being diagnosed more frequently in children and adolescents, particularly in American Indians, African Americans, and Hispanic/Latino Americans
  
  
• 23.5 million, or 10.7% of all people age 20 or older have diabetes
  
  
• 12.2 million, or 23.1% of all people age 60 or older have diabetes
  
  
• At least 50% of all people with diabetes are unaware of their condition. In some countries this figure may reach as high as 80%
  
  
• 12.0 million, or 11.2% of all men aged 20 years or older have diabetes although nearly one third of them do not know it
  
  
• 11.5 million, or 10.2% of all women aged 20 years or older have diabetes although nearly one quarter of them do not know it
  
  
• Diabetes is at least 2 to 4 times higher among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander women than among non-Hispanic white women
  
  
• 14.9 million, or 9.8% of all non-Hispanic whites aged 20 years or older have diabetes
  
  
• 3.7 million, or 14.7% of all non-Hispanic blacks aged 20 years or older have diabetes
  
  
• Up to 80% of type 2 diabetes is preventable by adopting a healthy diet and increasing physical activity
  
  
• People with type 2 diabetes are over twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as people who do not have diabetes
  
  
• People with type 2 diabetes are as likely to suffer a heart attack as people without diabetes who have already had a heart attack
  
  
• More than 2.5 million people worldwide are estimated to be affected by diabetic retinopathy
  
  
• In industrialized countries, diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss in adults of working age (20 to 65 years)
  
  
• Due to cardiovascular disease, on average, people with type 2 diabetes will die 5-10 years before people without diabetes
  
  
• Every 10 seconds two people develop diabetes
  
  
• Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes
  
  
• Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in diabetes, accounting for some 50% of all diabetes fatalities
  
  
• Diabetes is the largest cause of kidney failure in developed countries
  
  
• Type 2 diabetes has become the most frequent condition in people with kidney failure in countries of the Western world
  

Sources for Facts on Diabetes/Diabetes Information Research:

American Diabetes Association

Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Time to Act, International Diabetes Federation, 2001

Diabetes Atlas, third edition, International Diabetes Federation, 2007

World Health Organisation Diabetes Unit

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