Diabetes is a group of diseases in which the body cannot regulate glucose within normal limits. Glucose is a simple carbohydrate that is an important source of energy and is the preferred source of energy for the brain. According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC), impaired glucose regulation results from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. After we eat and blood glucose levels rise, insulin is secreted by the pancreas to stimulate glucose transport into cells where is can be used for energy.
Prevalence/Diagnosis
The latest statistics, reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2007, estimate that 23.6 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. The CDC also reports that in 2007 alone there were 1.6 million newly diagnosed cases of diabetes among adults. According to the NDIC, a number of tests can be used to diagnosis diabetes, but one, known as fasting plasma glucose (FPG), is preferred. With this test, a diabetes diagnosis can be made after a person is found to have a repeated plasma glucose level of 126 mg/dL or above. The test can also be used to test pre-diabetes, which is a plasma glucose level of 100 to 125 mg/dL. Another test, the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), is commonly used to test for gestational diabetes.
Type 2 Diabetes
Overall, type 2 diabetes is the most common type, and estimates from the CDC report that among adults (people older than 20), 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases are type 2. Type 2 diabetes is associated with a variety of factors, such as physical inactivity, obesity, family history of diabetes, older age, impaired glucose metabolism and race/ethnicity. The American Diabetes Association states that type 2 diabetics do not produce enough insulin or cells ignore the insulin. The disease usually begins with insulin resistance (or insulin insensitivity) and develops over time. Eventually the pancreas stops producing insulin.
Type 1 Diabetes
People with type 1 diabetes can no longer produce insulin and must have insulin delivered by pump or injection. The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown and there is currently no known way to prevent it. According to the CDC, this type of diabetes develops when the body's immune system destroys specialized pancreatic cells (beta cells) that make insulin. These specialized pancreatic cells are the only cells in the body that make insulin. The CDC reports that 5 percent to 10 percent of all adult diabetes cases are type 1.
Gestational Diabetes
Gestational diabetes is diagnosed in approximately 7 percent of all pregnancies in the United States. It is generally a temporary condition with only 5 percent to 10 percent of all mothers being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes immediately after the pregnancy, according to the CDC. If blood glucose levels are strictly controlled, gestational diabetes has no ill effects on the mother or baby, but women who develop gestational diabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Other types of diabetes, such as latent autoimmune diabetes, can result from factors such as infections, medications and illness. According to the CDC, such types of diabetes account for 1 percent to 5 percent of all diagnosed cases.
Diabetes Among Children and Adolescents
According to the American Diabetes Association, 186,300, or 0.22 percent, of all people under the age of 20 have diabetes. The CDC and NIH funded SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth to examine the incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents in the United States. Researchers found that from 2002 to 2003, 15,000 youth (people under 20) were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes annually and 3,700 were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes among children and adolescents translates to a rate of 19 per 100,000 and 5.3 per 100,000 new cases each year of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, respectively.
