The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report Thursday saying that the rate of new cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States has nearly doubled in the past ten years.
The data published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report show that in the past decade, incidence (new cases) of diagnosed diabetes has increase from 0.48 percent during 1995-1997 to 0.91 percent in 2005-2007 in 33 states surveyed.
“This dramatic increase in the number of people with diabetes highlights the increasing burden of diabetes across the country,” says lead author Karen Kirtland, Ph.D., a data analyst with CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation.
“This study demonstrates that we must continue to promote effective diabetes prevention efforts that include lifestyle interventions for people at risk for diabetes. Changes such as weight loss combined with moderate physical activity are important steps that individuals can take to reduce their risk for developing diabetes.”
The data came from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which provides incidence rates of diabetes for 43 states and two U.S. territories, but only 33 states had data for both time periods.The incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes varied from state to state. West Virginia was hit hardest where 1.27 percent of residents were newly diagnosed with the condition while Minnesota is the healthiest state where 0.50 percent was newly diagnosed with the disease.
Puerto Rico had 1.28 percent newly diagnosed during the 2005-2007 period. The worst states in addition to West Virginia included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.