By 2030, Every Other Person in the US Will Have Diabetes

As reported at the EASD in Lisbon, the number of diabetes patients has increased greatly. IDF estimates that worldwide, there are about 366 million people with diabetes, up from the 300 million reported in 2009. In addition, the estimate also included 4.6 million deaths from diabetes each year. These numbers should not be surprising and correlate to the obesity epidemic in the US and other Westernized countries. In a recent series in The Lancet, one study estimated that by the year 2030, half of Americans will be obese. Given the morbidity, mortality and costs associated with both obesity and diabetes, the prediction is a dire one. Reported at the EASD meeting by the IDF