DIABETES
Diabetes is a chronic condition and a leading cause of
death and disability in the United States. Complications
from diabetes
include loss of vision, kidney failure, heart disease,
limb amputations, and nerve damage, conditions which can
both
shorten the life span and diminish the quality of life.
People
may develop diabetes at any age. Of the two main types
of diabetes, Type 1 diabetes is usually first diagnosed
in
children, teenagers, or young adults, and accounts for
5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Type
2
diabetes can develop at any age and accounts for more
than 90 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. The
risk
for Type 2 diabetes may increase with age, obesity, and
physical
inactivity.1
In 2001, the rates of diabetes increased
with age among both men and women. Compared to women
aged 18-44, the
rate of
diabetes is more than four times higher in women aged
45-64 and more than seven times higher in women aged
65-74. Among
adults aged 44 and younger, the rate of diabetes is
slightly higher among females than males. However, this
trend
is reversed in adults aged 45 and older, where men
exhibit higher rates
of the disease.
Although the rates are not age-adjusted,
non-Hispanic Black women were more likely than women
of other racial
and ethnic
groups to have diabetes. In 2001, the rate of non-Hispanic
Black women was nearly twice the rate for non-Hispanic
White women (102.5 compared to 55.7) and 1.5 times
the rate for
Hispanic women.
 [d]
 [d]
1Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for
Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Diabetes
Public Health Resource. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/faqs.htm#whatis [Back
to Text] |
