Diabetes to Double in 25 Years
Written By: Diabetes Care
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Published - Feb 28, 2011
Even if the percentage of Americans who are obese stays the same, diabetes cases will nearly double in the United States in the next 25 years and the cost of treating the disease will almost triple, according to a new study by researchers based at the University of Chicago.
The study, published Friday in the journal Diabetes Care, found that the number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes will climb from almost 24 million this year to about 44 million in 2034. Over the same period, annual diabetes-related treatment costs are expected to increase from $113 billion to $336 billion in 2007 dollars. Medicare spending on diabetes is expected to jump from $45 billion to $171 billion and could exceed current projections for all Medicare costs, the researchers said. Much of the increase in cases and costs will be driven by aging baby boomers, the 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1957.