Diabetes Awareness Month

The number of people with Diabetes is staggering and can cut your life short if not managed. Below are estimates for the United States and estimates based on ethnic background.

Estimated prevalence of diabetes in the United States

• Total: 38.4 million people of all ages had diabetes (11.6% of the population) in 2021. 38.1 million were adults ages 18 years or older.
• Diagnosed: 29.7 million people of all ages had been diagnosed with diabetes (8.9% of the population).
  • 29.4 million were adults ages 18 years or older.
  • 352,000 were children and adolescents younger than age 20, including 304,000 with type 1 diabetes.
  • Age-adjusted data from 2019 to 2021 showed that, for both men and women ages 18 years or older, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes was highest among American Indian and Alaska Native adults (13.6%), followed by non-Hispanic Black adults (12.1%), adults of Hispanic origin (11.7%), non-Hispanic Asian adults (9.1%), and non-Hispanic White adults (6.9%).
• Undiagnosed: 8.7 million adults ages 18 years or older had diabetes but were undiagnosed (22.8% of adults with diabetes were undiagnosed).

Read about the estimates of diabetes in the United States External link and the prevalence of both diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in the National Diabetes Statistics Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the American Diabetes Association’s Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. External link, the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2022 was $412.9 billion, including $306.6 billion in direct medical costs and $106.3 billion in reduced productivity.

Additional Reports on Diabetes

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars in research and development to create new drugs, and for them to recoup their investment the FDA gives them a timeframe where the drug can not be made into a generic. If companies didn’t have a chance to recoup on investment, manufacturers would stop doing research to make more targeted drugs through the research they do. Brand names are more expensive for this reason. They are not public health services and are not operated by our government. Our government gets involved when the drugs are presented to the FDA for approval.

If you don’t have medical insurance, the cost of medication can put a dent in your monthly cost of living. Before picking up your medication even if you have insurance go on the app GoodRX to see if they have a less expensive price, and the pharmacist will honor the GoodRX price. If GoodRX doesn’t have a lower price ask the pharmacist if they know of any coupon codes. The first thing I do when taking a brand drug is go to the medication’s website to see if they have a co-pay program. I’m taking several newer brand medications and paying almost nothing because of the company’s co-pay cards.

Melinda

Reference:

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/diabetes-statistics