Wow.

So the new figures are in and they’ve concluded the annual cost for diabetes in the U.S. for 2007 hit *$174 Billion dollars*, up 32% since 2002. That is 1 in every 5 health care dollars going to diabetes care. These figures are only for the U.S., worldwide the estimates go over $300 billion.

This number shadows the $150 Billion in damages from Hurricane Katrina and some say it is about as much as the cost of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflicts (though who knows the real numbers on that).

This is really getting out of control, they say last year the diabetes related death toll in the U.S. was over 284,000. There are 1 million new cases each year.

These figures also did not take into account the undiagnosed diabetes population in the U.S. which is estimated at over 6 million. Though personally I can tell by the nationwide lifestyles, diets and daily trends that number is probably much higher and ballooning fast.

Here is what R. Stewart Perry, ADA’s chairman of the board had to say:

“Diabetes plagues more than just the individual with the disease. It is common, it is costly, it creates numerous complications, and there is no cure. Until we start reversing current trends, through increased awareness, prevention and aggressive disease management, diabetes will continue to have an adverse impact on our society as a whole,”

It just goes to show how much we need to kick things into gear and start to take control of this, even if it’s person by person. By educating ourselves/sharing our experiences, tracking our daily stats/trends and connecting to each other for support I think we will start to turn the tide.

Read more: Diabetes’ Health Toll Hits $174 Billion Annually (HealthCentral)
Another: Diabetes costs USA more than wars, disasters, study says (USA Today)

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Diabetes Bloggers, Diabetes News, Diabetes Study.
Tags: 2007 Diabetes Costs, Cost of Diabetes, Diabetes $174 Billion, Diabetes Death Toll, U.S. Diabetes Cost.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.