What is the Impact of Diabetes?
Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.
Over time, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, and nerve damage. These types of damage are the result of damage to small vessels, referred to as microvascular disease. Diabetes is also an important factor in accelerating the hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), leading to strokes, coronary heart disease, and other large blood vessel diseases. This is referred to as macrovascular disease. Diabetes affects approximately 17 million people (about 8% of the population) in the United States. In addition, an estimated additional 12 million people in the United States have diabetes and don’t even know it.
From an economic perspective, the total annual cost of diabetes in 1997 was estimated to be 98 billion dollars in the United States. The per capita cost resulting from diabetes in 1997 amounted to $10,071.00; while healthcare costs for people without diabetes incurred a per capita cost of $2,699.00. During this same year, 13.9 million days of hospital stay were attributed to diabetes, while 30.3 million physician office visits were diabetes related. Remember, these numbers reflect only the population in the United States. Globally, the statistics are staggering.
Direct and Indirect Costs of Diabetes?
Diabetes is one of the most costly health problems in America. The ADA estimates that health care and other costs directly related to diabetes treatment, as well as the costs of lost productivity, run $218 billion annually.
How does Diabetes impact lifestyle?
Diabetes also impacts the lives of the people around you.
There is no doubt that diabetes has an impact on the lifestyle of the patient. Diabetes is associated with long-term complications. Uncontrolled, the disease can lead to blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, amputations, and nerve damage. Diabetes can lead to the loss of the right to drive, complicate pregnancy, and cause birth defects.