Diabetes in the Us

AUGUSTINE ANI

BI 115

DIABTES, A GROWING HEALTH THREAT IN THE US.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes Mellitus as medically known is a growing Health threat for people all over the world, especially as the incidence of type 2 diabetes increases due to aging populations and changing life styles. It is a chronic disease, which affects approximately 371 Million people worldwide. [1]

It is now ranked among one of the most common non-communicable diseases in the world. It falls as the 4th leading cause of death in most developed countries and there are facts and figures that it is epidemic in many developing and new industrialized countries. [2]

In the US, the number has increased so much within the last five years and US being the third country among the top ten countries mostly affected with diabetes. It is reported that 25.8 million Americans, 8.3% of the population have diabetes. 25.6 Million Americans aged 20 years or older are newly diagnosed with diabetes every year, 11.3% of all people in this age group and 10.9 million or 26.9 million of people within the age group of 65 or older have diabetes.

This number is of great concern to US government and entire medical scientists.

This public health problem has reached pandemonic proportions;

A prevalence of 439 million people with diabetes in the year 2030 has been predicted.[3]

Diabetes is an endocrine disorder, which is characterized by a deficiency of and/ or resistance to the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced in the cells of pancreas and it is an important regulator of the glucose metabolism. Insulin is responsible for the uptake and storage of glucose from the blood and thereby reduces blood glucose levels. If the glucose metabolism is disturbed, hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels) or hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) might occur.

In addition, insulin plays an important role in fat and protein metabolism.

There are several types of diabetes viz type 1 or insulin diabetes which is common in...