This paper explores the prevalence, burden and type 2 diabetes risk factors in the United States. Diabetes is one of the most common types of metabolic disorders globally. Diabetes can be defined as a metabolic disorder where an individual suffers from a high blood sugar levels over a long period of time. Diabetic conditions arise when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin or the body cells do not react appropriately to the insulin being produced.
Some of the symptoms of diabetes include increased thirst, frequent urination and increased hunger. If not well managed, diabetes can easily lead to serious long term complications such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers and damage to the eyes among others. There are various forms of diabetes such as type 1 diabetes and type 2 etc. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and is sometimes known as the non-insulin dependent diabetes. People who suffer from Type 2 diabetes are not able to respond effectively to insulin, thus their liver and muscle cells become insulin resistant.
Burden, prevalence and type 2 diabetes risk factors
Introduction
Diabetes is one of the most common types of metabolic disorders globally. Diabetes can be defined as a metabolic disorder where an individual suffers from a high blood sugar levels over a long period of time. Diabetic conditions arise when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin or the body cells do not react appropriately to the insulin being produced. Some of the symptoms of diabetes include increased thirst, frequent urination and increased hunger (Silva, Ferreira, & Pihno, 2017). If not well managed, diabetes can easily lead to serious long term complications such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease, foot ulcers and damage to the eyes among others. There are various forms of diabetes such as type 1 diabetes and type 2 etc. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the disease and is sometimes known as the non-insulin dependent diabetes (Bullard et al., 2018). People who suffer from Type 2 diabetes are not able to respond effectively to insulin, thus their liver and muscle cells become insulin resistant. In this paper, the researcher explores the prevalence, burden and type 2 diabetes risk factors in the United States.
Analysis and discussion
Cause, signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a major health problem in the United States nowadays affecting both males and females across all age groups. Though the primary cause of diabetes is unknown, factors such as hereditary, social status and psychological conditions have been cited as the most probable cause of diabetes (Chiang, Kirkman, Laffel, & Peters, 2014). Regardless of the cause, people suffering from diabetes will have a relatively high level of blood glucose and increased level of glucose in urine. As a result of increased glucose in the urine, the body would release excess urine leading to dehydration. Due to this people who suffer from diabetes tend to feel thirst more than normal and consume large amounts of water (Chiang, Kirkman, Laffel, & Peters, 2014). With the insulin inability, body’s ability to facilitate protein, fat and carbohydrate will also be hindered. Some people who suffer from diabetes complain of fatigue, nausea and vomiting. They can also develop infections in the bladder, skin and vaginal areas or suffer from blurred vision.
Distribution, burden and prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the United States
Around the world, it is estimated that more than 415 million people were suffering from diabetes in 2016 with 90 percent of these people suffering from type 2 diabetes. This number represents 8.3 percent of the global adult population with the rate between women and men almost equal. In the United States, there are more than 30.3 million people suffering from diabetes as of 2015 (American Diabetes Association, 2019). This implies that more than 9.4 percent of Americans suffer from diabetes. Of this number, approximately 1.25 million were American children and adults with type1 diabetes while the remaining more than 28 million were people suffering from type2 diabetes. Of the 30.3 million, 23.1 million were diagnosed while the remaining 7.2 million were undiagnosed (Silva, Ferreira, & Pihno, 2017). Among the seniors, recent statistics indicate that up to 25.2 percent were suffering from diabetes. According to these statistics, more than 1.5 million Americans get diagnosed with diabetes every year. The findings also show that diabetes is not only a condition for the elderly as more than 193,000 Americans aged below 20 are estimated to have been diagnosed with diabetes representing 0.24 percent of the population (Bullard et al., 2018).
Interestingly, the statistics showed that type 2 diabetes cases were more common among the minority ethnic groups compared to the non-Hispanic whites. For example, American Diabetes Association showed that rates of diabetes diagnoses were 12.8 percent among Hispanics, 13.2 percent of Non-Hispanic blacks and 15.9 percent among the American Indians/Alaskan Natives (Silva, Ferreira, & Pihno, 2017). On the other hand, only 7.6 percent and 9 percent of Non-Hispanic whites and Asian Americans were diagnosed with diabetes respectively. Nevertheless, the diabetes rates according to sexes and age groups were found to have been gradually increasing in the last twenty years. For instance, in 1998, only 7.4 percent of women and 5.5 percent of men were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (American Diabetes Association, 2019). Some scholars argue that the increase in prevalence in diabetes can be attributed to a more sedentary living styles and unhealthy diets.
According to geographical distribution, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the prevalence rates of diabetes were higher in states such as Mississippi, parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia than the rest of the country (Bullard et al., 2018). CDC has referred to these regions as the United States’ diabetes belt. In terms of costs, the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse estimated that the United States spends at least $132 billion every year for treatment and management of type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association predicted that one in three Americans born after 2000 will develop diabetes in their lives. As a result, the cost of diabetes on the United States is expected to raise going into the future. In the meantime, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of deaths in the United States based on the 79535 death certificates in 2015 where diabetes was the underlying cause of death. Silva, Ferreira and Pihno (2017) however argued that diabetes may be underreported as the cause of death. For instance, one study found that only about 35 percent and 40 percent of people with diabetes who had died had diabetes listed anywhere as the cause of death and only 10 percent to 15 percent listed diabetes as the underlying cause of death (American Diabetes Association, 2019).
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- Difrine Madara (Autor), 2019, Burden, Prevalence and Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/508258