Home » Daily News

Jan. 29 - Increasing Rates of Diabetes Among Older Americans

The annual number of Americans older than 65 newly diagnosed with diabetes increased by 23% between 1994 to 1995 and 2003 to 2004, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing, in part because of population aging, but also in younger persons,” according to background information in the article. The high rate of existing diabetes also contributes to a high rate of diabetes-related complications and premature death. “Awareness of the importance of active monitoring and management of diabetes has become more widespread; however, adherence to recommended practices remains low.”

“The annual incidence of diabetes increased by 23% between 1994 to 1995 and 2003 to 2004, and prevalence increased by 62%,” the authors write. After diagnosis, the death rate in patients having diabetes decreased by 8.3% when compared with those who were not diagnosed with the disease.

“Overall, our findings emphasize the overwhelming burden of diabetes, including the near 90% prevalence of an adverse outcome and many serious and resource-consuming outcomes such as coronary heart failure, myocardial infarction [heart attack] and stroke,” the authors conclude. “The burden of financing and providing medical care for persons older than 65 in the United States having diagnosed diabetes is growing rapidly as a result of increased incidence and, especially, prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, decreased mortality and overall lack of improvement in rates of complications in persons having diagnosed diabetes.”

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Aging.

Source: AMA

(View the Daily News Archive)