More than 100 million people in America have either diabetes or a condition called "pre-diabetes" that can lead to type 2 diabetes within five years, the CDC says in a new report out today. That's a huge number, with enormous consequences for the healthcare system.
Data: Centers for Disease Control; Map: Lazaro Gamio / Axios
Key findings:As of 2015, 30.3 million Americans have diabetes and another 84.1 million have pre-diabetes.Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the country in 2015.The rate of new diagnoses hasn't changed much: In 2015, there were about 1.5 million new cases among adults. Importantly, the CDC found 23.8% of adults living with diabetes didn't know they had it — a statistic that has also held steady. A map of the country shows that a higher percentage of diabetes cases are in Rust Belt states, the deep South and the Southeast.The new CDC statistics were pulled from data compiled by four federal agencies, along with published studies in peer-reviewed medical science journals. The report doesn't distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but 95% of all diabetes cases are type 2, which can be prevented if people know about it and act on it.
Sound smarter: Diabetes can be managed with nutrition, exercise and insulin use, but it can also lead to serious health complications when people aren't aware of the risks. There are multiple risk factors for diabetes, but the major ones include smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood glucose (sugar). A combination of several of these exponentially increases the risk of diabetes for someone.