Diabetes in the 1990s--an overview

Diabetes affects more than 16 million persons in the United States and touches all ages races and both genders. As a rule the younger population (usually under age 30) has insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM, sometimes referred to as Type I diabetes) while the older population is affected by non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM, or Type II). Diabetes mellitus has been increasing fairly steadily over the years, and in 1994 the number of diabetes deaths was 5 percent higher than in 1993. In the United States minority groups particularly Native Americans are more frequently affected by NIDDM than non-Hispanic whites. Uncontrolled diabetes often leads to long-term complications which account for an increase in health care costs. In 1992 diabetes and its long-term complications cost $92 billion approximately 15 percent of the total U.S. health care costs. This cost is expected to continue rising as the number of diabetics increases. Over the past five to seven years the disease has become more manageable with the development of new options medications and simple accurate diagnostic kits for patients home use. Research is leading to better preventive and management techniques which increase the need not only for general public health but also for individual patient education. Effective preventive measures as well as symptom identification and awareness can result in far better control of complications.