American Diabetes Month: Fast Stats about the Disease

By Maria Fontanazza
November 12, 2015


• Categories: 04-Product Design & Development, Business Analysis, RC - Device Design & Manufacturing

Diabetes is a growing epidemic. Nearly 10% of Americans (30 million) have the disease and an estimated 86 million have prediabetes (meaning they are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes), according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Americans notoriously love sugar and fast food, and many live an unhealthy lifestyle. If we continue on this track, one in three adults in the United States will have diabetes by 2050.

1 in 9 healthcare dollars are spent on diabetes, with diabetes expenditure hitting $612 billion globally last year. Source: IDF.November is American Diabetes Month. With that, MedTech Intelligence will be covering some of the technologies that help people living with the condition, as well as what we can expect to see in the future. Because diabetes is one of the most expensive chronic diseases, device manufacturers are challenged not only with refining technologies that improve patient experience and adherence, but also products that do not raise healthcare costs. The ADA estimates that diabetes costs $245 billion nationally, with direct medical costs hitting $176 billion and indirect costs—disability, loss of work and premature death—reaching $69 billion.

Did you know that 1 in 2 people with diabetes don’t know they have it? About 46% are undiagnosed. Source: IDFGlobal Impact

Saturday, November 14 is World Diabetes Day. Nearly 387 million people have diabetes worldwide, 77% of which live in low- and middle-income countries, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The organization estimates that nearly 600 million people globally could have diabetes by 2035.