Yesterday I took part in a tweetchat with Dr. Richard Bessar of ABC News. Joining the chat were representatives from the Centers for Disease Control, as well as many from major diabetes centers. The topic was whether type 2 is an at epidemic levels, and the general feeling was, Yes! A few stats that were passed around during the discussion:
. 25. 8 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, while about 7 million are undiagnosed.
. A provocative paper published in 2010 estimated that half of the population in the U.S. will have type 2 diabetes by 2020.
. 79 million Americans have prediabetes.
. The CDC estimates that 1 in 3 Americans will have diabetes by 2050 if current trends continue.
The good news is that a 5-7% weight loss and exercising for 150 minutes a week can cut the risk of diabetes by 58%.
These are a lot of numbers. But the overall message was that we are in an epidemic, which has terrible implications for health and health costs.
Scary stuff, methinks.
