Report: Diabetes Death Toll Could Triple in 20 Years
Unless America's obesity epidemic is brought under control, the number of people dying and suffering from diabetes and its complications will roughly triple by the year 2025, a new study predicts.
The study, released Wednesday by the Yale Schools of Public Health and Medicine, in conjunction with the Institute for Alternative Futures, said those dire predictions will come true if the U.S. health-care system continues to fail to adequately prevent and treat the disease.
Diabetes is one of only two major causes of death in the U.S. that continues to increase while other major causes of death are declining. This is directly linked to the obesity epidemic," said Derek Yach, of the Yale School of Public Health.
The study found that if the health-care system remains unchanged, by 2025:
- Diabetes-associated deaths will nearly triple from 213,062 in 2000 to 622,000.
- Blindness from diabetes will increase three-fold from 24,000 to 70,000.
- Cases of kidney disease because of diabetes will almost triple from 41,046 to 119,000.
- Amputations because of diabetes will triple from 82,000 to 239,000.
- By the year 2025, the U. S. will nearly triple its spending on costs associated with diabetes to $351 billion.
- The number of people living with diabetes will more than double to 50 million -- equivalent to the population of nearly 27 states
