Diabetes Cases To Double In United States By 2034

The number of people with diabetes in the United States is expected to double over the next 25 years.

The study published in the December issue of Diabetes Care predicts that by 2034 about 44.1 million people will have the disease, up from 23.7 million today. At the same time, the cost of treating people with diabetes will triple, rising from an estimated $113 billion in 2009 to $336 billion in 2034.

Researchers note that a key factor driving the soaring costs is the number of people living with diabetes for lengthy periods. Over time, the cost of caring for someone with diabetes tends to rise along with their risk for developing complications, such as end-stage renal disease, which requires costly dialysis according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.

In making their estimates, researchers at the University of Chicago used data on people 24 to 85 years old who took part in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Health Interview Study.

Prior forecasts, including the ones currently used by the federal government's budget analysts, have underestimated the burden, the researchers noted. A 1991 study, for example, predicted that 11.6 million people would have diabetes in 2030. In 2009, there were already more than twice that many living with diabetes.

Among Medicare beneficiaries, the number with diabetes is expected to rise from 8.2 million to 14.6 million in 2034, with an accompanying rise in spending from $45 billion to $171 billion the study reveals. The high cost of chronic disease is one of the most pressing issues facing the United States as legislators grapple with financial strains on Medicare and the larger issue of health-care reform, the researchers explained.

Factors driving the increase in diabetes cases include the aging population and continued high rates of obesity, both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, in which the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells don't use it correctly. In the study, the researchers assumed that the obesity rate would remain relatively stable, topping out at about 30 percent in the next decade and then declining slightly to about 27 percent in 2033.

Weight Loss Good For Kidney Health

Shedding pounds through diet and exercise or even surgery may help obese adults with kidney disease ward off further decline in kidney function a new study finds.

Medical experts explain that kidneys filter waste products from the blood and excrete them in the urine. When damaged, their ability to perform these vital functions is reduced.

Some 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance  and millions of others are at increased risk.  By 2015, experts predict there will be more than 700,000 people with the most advanced form of kidney disease known as end-stage renal disease.

More than a third of US adults are either overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for kidney trouble, not to mention heart trouble and diabetes.   To determine if weight loss could help protect the kidneys, medical researchers at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic studied data from studies that examined the impact on kidney function of weight loss achieved through diet, exercise, or surgery.

The researchers found that losing weight through diet and exercise reduced one key measure of kidney damage - namely, excess excretion of protein in the urine, what doctors call "proteinuria."   The medical report noted that weight loss achieved through surgery seemed to help normalize the rate at which the kidneys filter waste products in obese adults with abnormally high filtration rates.

The findings were reported in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.