CDC: 30M in US have diabetes; new diagnoses fewer than 2008 high

The diabetes epidemic continues to spread across the United States—but not as quickly as it once had, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s 2017 National Diabetes Statistics Report.

The CDC estimates 30.3 million people have diabetes (9.4 percent of Americans), with 7.2 million currently undiagnosed. About 1.5 million new diagnoses were delivered in 2015, down from 1.7 million in 2008.

“Research confirms that while diabetes cases are still growing, they’re not growing as fast as in previous years,” according to the CDC report. “This is encouraging news—prevention efforts are having an impact. But the numbers are still staggering, and certain populations are setting off alarm bells: older people and minorities are more likely to get diabetes, and youth are being diagnosed earlier in life.”

Another 84.1 million Americans are prediabetic.

Some findings specifically relating to cardiovascular concerns include:

• Of the 7.2 million hospital discharges reported diabetes as a listed diagnosis in those 18 and older, 1.5 million were for major cardiovascular diseases—400,000 for ischemic heart disease and 251,000 for stroke.
• 75 percent of adults eligible for statin therapy were in the primary stage of cardiovascular disease prevention, while 23.3 percent were in the secondary stage.
• 58.2 percent of adults 21 or older with no self-reported cardiovascular disease but eligible for statin therapy were on a lipid-lowering medication.
• 66.9 percent of adults aged 21 or older with self-reported cardiovascular disease who were eligible for statin therapy were on a lipid-lowering medication.

The full study is available for download here.