Diabetes Mellitus

Over 17 million people in the United States, or 6.2% of the population, have diabetes. More than one third of diabetes victims are unaware that they have the disease. Higher rates of diabetes occur in certain populations: 13% of African Americans, 10.2% of Latino Americans, and 15.1% of Native Americans have diabetes. Prevalence of diabetes increases with age. Approximately 151,00 people less than 20 years of age have diabetes, but nearly 20.1% of the U.S. population age 65 and older has diabetes. In the United States, 8.9% of all women and 8.3% of all men have diabetes. Over one million people are newly diagnosed with diabetes each year. Greater than 450,000 deaths each year in the United States are attributed to diabetes.