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Senior Health & Medicine
More than One in Five Senior Citizens Has Diabetes
Nearly 40% of seniors have pre-diabetes
impaired fasting glucose
May 26, 2006 A new study has found that 22
percent of senior citizens age 65 and older have diabetes and nearly 40
percent suffer with a form of pre-diabetes called impaired fasting
glucose (IFG), which becomes more common with age. The study also found
the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in U.S. adults age 20 and older has
risen from about 5.1 percent to 6.5 percent.
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those drugs, a new University of Michigan study finds. And even among
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Older Americans Leading in the War Against Obesity
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April
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on
Health & Medicine |
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Researchers at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reached
these conclusions after studying national survey data from two
periods--1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2002.
However, the percentage of adults with undiagnosed
diabetes did not change significantly over the years studied. About 2.8
percent of U.S. adult--one-third of those with diabete--still don't know
they have it.
The study, published in the June 2006 issue of
Diabetes Care, notes that type 2 diabetes accounts for up to 95 percent
of all diabetes cases and virtually all undiagnosed diabetes cases.
Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high
levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production,
insulin action, or both. It is the most common cause of blindness,
kidney failure, and amputations in adults and a major cause of heart
disease and stroke.
Over the years studied, about 26 percent of adults
age 20 and older continued to have impaired fasting glucose (IFG), a
form of pre-diabetes. IFG, in which blood glucose measured after an
overnight fast is high but not yet diagnostic of diabetes, increases the
risk of heart disease as well as the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
"It's important to know if you have pre-diabetes or
undiagnosed type 2 diabetes," said Dr. Larry Blonde, chair of the
National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), jointly sponsored by the
NIH, CDC, and 200 partner organizations. "You should talk to your health
care professional about your risk. If your blood glucose is high but not
high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes, losing weight and increasing
physical activity will greatly lower your risk of getting type 2
diabetes. If you have diabetes, controlling your blood glucose, blood
pressure, and cholesterol will prevent or delay the complications of
diabetes."
Key findings by the researchers:
● nearly 22 percent of people age 65 and older
had diabetes.
● about 13 percent of non-Hispanic blacks age 20 and older had
diabetes. Diabetes was twice as common in non-Hispanic blacks compared
to non-Hispanic whites.
● about 8 percent of Mexican Americans age 20 and older had diabetes.
Because the average age of Mexican Americans is younger than for other
groups, the age-and sex-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in Mexican
Americans is twice that of non-Hispanic whites and about equal to that
of non-Hispanic blacks.
● IFG and undiagnosed diabetes were about 70 percent more common in
men than in women, especially in non-Hispanic white men.
● nearly 40 percent of people age 65 and older had IFG, which becomes
more common with age.
In the study, the researchers compared two slices
of data, one from 1988 to 1994 and the other from 1999 to 2002. The data
were derived from a national sample of U.S. adults age 20 years and
older who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES) conducted by the CDC's National Center for Health
Statistics. Survey participants were interviewed in their homes and
received a physical exam with a blood test, which included a glucose
reading taken after an overnight fast. The NHANES is unique because it
includes a blood test that detects undiagnosed diabetes and IFG.
"This study updates and generally corroborates
earlier analyses that were based on 2 years of NHANES data," said lead
author Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). "We're seeing a rising prevalence
of diagnosed diabetes that is not substantially offset by a drop in the
rate of undiagnosed--about one-third of adults with diabetes still don't
know they have it. Another 26 percent of adults have a form of
pre-diabetes."
Pre-diabetes, which usually causes no symptoms, is
serious because many people with the condition develop type 2 diabetes
in the next 10 years. Also, pre-diabetes substantially raises the risk
of a heart attack or stroke even if type 2 diabetes does not develop.
People with pre-diabetes may have IFG or impaired
glucose tolerance (IGT) or both.
● In IFG, blood glucose is high (100 to 125
milligrams per deciliter or mg/dL) after an overnight fast but not high
enough to be diagnostic of diabetes.
● In IGT, blood glucose is high (140 to 199 mg/dL) 2 hours after
drinking a sugary drink in an oral glucose tolerance test but not high
enough to be diagnostic of diabetes.
In the current study, researchers did not assess
the prevalence of IGT because an oral glucose tolerance test was not a
part of the survey.
People with pre-diabetes can often prevent or delay
diabetes if they lose a modest amount of weight by cutting calories in
their diet and increasing physical activity (for example, walking 30
minutes a day 5 days a week). A major study of people with IGT has shown
that lifestyle changes leading to a 5 to 7 percent weight loss lowered
diabetes onset by 58 percent.
If you are over age 45, you should consult your
health care provider about testing for pre-diabetes or diabetes. If you
are younger than 45, overweight, and have another risk factor, you
should ask about testing. You are at greater risk of developing
pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes if you:
● are age 45 or older
● have a family history of diabetes
● are overweight
● have an inactive lifestyle (exercise less than three times a week)
● are members of a high-risk ethnic population (e.g., African
American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian and Alaska Native,
Asian American, Pacific Islander)
● have high blood pressure: 140/90 mm/Hg or higher
● have an HDL cholesterol less than 35 mg/dL or a triglyceride level
250 mg/dL or higher
● have had diabetes that developed during pregnancy (gestational
diabetes) or have given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
● have polycystic ovary syndrome, a metabolic disorder that affects
the female reproductive system
● have acanthosis nigricans (dark, thickened skin around neck or
armpits)
● have a history of disease of the blood vessels to the heart, brain,
or legs
● have had IFG or IGT on previous testing.
More about the study:
In its "Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent Type 2
Diabetes" campaign, the NDEP (www.ndep.nih.gov/)
is reaching out to people at risk for type 2 diabetes with the message
that they have the power to turn the tide against this disease. The NDEP
campaign, "Control Your Diabetes for Life," encourages people with
diabetes to control their blood glucose as well as their blood pressure
and cholesterol. By keeping all three as close to normal as possible,
people with diabetes can prevent or delay the development and
progression of diabetes complications, which affect the heart, eyes,
nerves, kidneys, and blood vessels.
For more diabetes statistics,
click here.
The NIH and the CDC are agencies of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The NIH, which includes 27
Institutes and Centers, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and
supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and
investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare
diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, see
www.nih.gov. For information about CDC and its programs, see
www.cdc.gov.
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