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Joslin Diabetes Center

Diabetes Health Information

Facts About Diabetes

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The diabetes statistics listed below come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Diabetes Fact Sheet for the United States, 2005

  1. 20.8 million Americans -- or 7 percent of the U.S. population -- have diabetes. This is up from 18.2 million in 2003, an increase of 14 percent.

  2. Nearly one-third of people with diabetes in the U.S. are still undiagnosed (6.2 million).

  3. The estimated total (direct and indirect) costs of diabetes in the U.S. in 2002 was $132 billion.

  4. Diabetes remains a leading cause of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations.

  5. Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent while the death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.

  6. Minorities are at a greater risk for diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. After adjusting for population age differences, non-Hispanic blacks are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites, while Mexican Americans -- the largest Hispanic subgroup -- are 1.7 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites.

Links to Diabetes Information Sites:


This page was last updated on: August 21, 2007.

For appointments or information, call 1-888-JOSLIN8 (1-888-567-5468).