In the following two articles, researchers say that diabetes rates are going to double and the costs triple in the next 25 years. Now more than ever is the need for people to get healthy. Diabetes can be controlled and most cases prevented when people maintain a healthy lifestyle.

When I am not advocating that there is a cure for diabetes, I will say that diet and exercise will make a difference. These two efforts are supported by the products found within the product lines of Advocare. Check out these two articles first, then begin changing your life in a healthy way by participating in a 24 Day Challenge. Just click on the link to the right!

Cost of Treating the Disease Set to Triple, Researchers Say

 

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Nov. 27, 2009 -- If nothing is done, the number of Americans with diabetes will nearly double in the next 25 years and spending on the disease will nearly triple, a new study shows.

An aging population combined with a dramatic rise in obesity has created a perfect storm for diabetes in the U.S., researchers say.

"A perfect storm is a good way to look at it," study researcher Elbert S. Huang, MD of the University of Chicago tells WebMD. "If things stay the way they are right now we will have massive increases in diabetes incidence in this country over the next two decades."

By 2034, as many as 44 million Americans will have diabetes, up from 23 million today, according to the new projections, published in the November issue of the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care.

The cost of caring for diabetes patients is projected to rise from $113 billion to $336 annually, and that is before adjusting for inflation.

These costs will outpace the increase in cases because more diabetes patients will be older and sicker and will require more expensive medical care, experts say.

Trouble for Medicare

Age is one of the biggest risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and the transition of baby boomers from middle to old age will drive much of the increase, the study shows.

As a result, by 2034, half of all direct spending in diabetes care is projected to occur in the Medicare population.

About 8 million Americans covered by Medicare now have diabetes and it cost $45 billion to treat them in 2009.

The number of diabetes patients whose treatment is paid for by Medicare is projected to nearly double to 14.6 million in the next 25 years, and the cost of caring for them is expected to quadruple.

By 2034, annual Medicare spending on diabetes care is projected to rise to $171 billion.

Although little can be done about the aging of the population, much can be done about the other major risk factor for type 2 diabetes -- obesity.

About 65% of Americans are overweight, and about one-third are obese, the CDC says.

The obesity rate among adults in the U.S. doubled between 1980 and 2004, but it appears to have leveled off since then.

The new diabetes model developed by the Huang and colleagues predicts a slight decline in obesity rates in the U.S. over the next two decades.

Target Obesity, Change the Future

All agree that a bigger decline in obesity, achieved though successful public health initiatives, could make a huge difference.

The future projected in the newly published study does not have to become reality, experts say.

"The cost of doing nothing is clearly going to be quite high," study co-researcher Michael O'Grady, PhD, said in a news conference. "To do nothing right now is going to cost billions and billions of dollars."

American Diabetes Association chief scientific and medical officer David M. Kendall, MD says it is now clear that even modest lifestyle changes, such as losing a few pounds or taking a walk most days a week, can drastically reduce a person's risk for developing diabetes.

The Diabetes Prevention Program was one of the largest studies ever to examine the impact of diet, exercise, and drug treatments on diabetes rates in patients at high risk for developing the disease.

The study found that these people cut their diabetes risk dramatically by losing just 7% of their body weight and engaging in moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes, a minimum of five times a week.

Early treatment with the diabetes drug metformin also helped delay or prevent diabetes, but to a lesser extent.

"Even modest weight loss and as little as 30 minutes of exercise five or more days a week and inexpensive treatments can keep people healthy," he tells WebMD. "That is really the big message."

Study: Cost of treating diabetes to triple by 2034

By Caleb Hellerman, CNN Medical News senior producer

November 27, 2009 1:45 a.m. EST

(CNN) -- The number of Americans with diabetes will nearly double in the next 25 years, and the costs of treating them will triple, according to a new report.

 

The figures, in a University of Chicago report released Friday, add fuel to the congressional debate regarding reining in the cost of health care.

By 2034, 44.1 million Americans will be living with diabetes -- nearly twice the current number of 23.7 million, according to the report, published in the December issue of the journal Diabetes Care. About 90 percent of those

with diabetes have type 2, a version of the condition that develops over time.

 

Accounting for inflation, the direct medical cost of treating them will rise from $113 billion annually to $336 billion, the report says.

 

Current health care proposals in Congress attempt to slow the growth of spending on chronic diseases such as diabetes by funding programs to prevent disease in the first place, and by offering incentives for insurers and medical providers to encourage early treatment through so-called "accountable care organizations."

 

In those organizations, doctors might be paid a flat fee to treat a diabetes patient for a year, with bonuses if they meet certain benchmarks of patient health.

 

The staggering numbers in the new paper dwarf potential savings that have lately been discussed. For example, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius earlier this month released a report urging improvements in diabetes care. If the most successful statewide programs for controlling diabetes could be duplicated nationwide, it estimates, annual savings from reducing hospitalizations and treatment for various complications would total $216 million.

 

The numbers are disturbing, said Dr. Elbert Huang, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and lead author of the report. But he said he considers the predictions "very conservative" because they don't account for the growing proportion of overweight children and teenagers, who are at higher risk for developing diabetes.

 

The estimates also don't factor in immigration, or the rising population of ethnic minorities. Latinos and African-Americans suffer diabetes at higher rates than the U.S. population as a whole.

 

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which a person loses the ability to break down glucose in the blood and turn food into energy. The condition often develops when people are young.

 

In type 2 diabetes, the condition develops over time. The process is complex, but aside from ethnic background, risk factors include having a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. The most common risk factor is simply being overweight.

 

Even modest weight loss will reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More ambitious lifestyle changes, such as diet, regular exercise and assistance through counseling lowered the risk of diabetes by 58 percent, even without medication, in a major federally funded study.

 

The model used by Huang and his colleagues assumes that the prevalence of diabetes in each age group will stay constant, but that the number of cases will grow as the population gets older. For the Medicare-eligible population alone, the paper predicts the diabetes caseload will rise from 8.2 million people to 14.6 million, and that the total annual cost of treatment will go from $45 billion to $171 billion.

 

To estimate cost, the researchers assumed that the standard progression of the disease, and mix of therapies used to treat it, will remain constant. According to a 2005 federal report, nearly three in four adults with diabetes uses oral medication to control the disease. About one in four takes insulin.

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, according to the American Diabetes Association, and nerve damage and damaged blood vessels are also common. About 15 percent of diabetics require amputation of a lower extremity at some point in their life, according to a 1998 paper in Diabetes Care.

 

It's certainly possible that medical breakthroughs will improve care, but it's unlikely to lead to lower costs, Huang said. "In the past, in general, medical discoveries have driven costs up, not down."

 

The study was funded by the company Novo Nordisk, which makes insulin delivery systems to treat diabetics. Novo Nordisk approved the final manuscript, but the authors say the company did not play a role in designing the study or collecting data.

 

"Without significant changes in public or private strategies, this population and cost growth are expected to add a significant strain to an overburdened health care system," the report concludes.

 

The new report is concerning, but doesn't change the big picture of health care spending, said Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist who has schooled many politicians about the intricacies of health care.

 

"Even without this change, over the next 75 years we've made promises that exceed the revenues we have to pay for them," he said.

 

There's no compelling evidence that better preventive care can significantly reduce the cost of treating diabetes, Gruber said, but he believes accountable care organizations could make a big impact. He also likes the idea of allowing insurers to charge higher premiums to people who don't meet certain health benchmarks, such as losing weight if they're obese.

 

"The thing about diabetes, it's among the most preventable of major illnesses," Gruber said. "We need to put patient financial incentives at stake."

 

Huang said he won't be surprised if the surge in diabetes turns out to be even worse than he projects.

 

"Prior estimates have all said there would be a dramatic rise in the diabetes type 2 population," he said, but in every case "the actual [diabetic] population has ended up being larger than the estimates."