Diabetic Complications Declining in US

Diabetics appear to be facing fewer and fewer complications associated with their condition, according to a recent report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC report, which was published as part of a study in The New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, shows that the prevalence of five major diabetes-related complications has been on a noticeable decline over the past two decades.

According to the study, between 1990 and 2010, U.S. adults with diabetes have suffered from fewer heart attacks, strokes, kidney failures, lower-limb amputations, and deaths from very high blood sugar on-average.

Even with diabetes still being the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., the main causes of death for diabetes -- namely cardiovascular events and stroke -- decreased in prevalence by 50 to 60 percent over the past two decades, while end-stage kidney failure saw a 30 percent reduction in prevalence. Even rare severe complications from untreated diabetes, such as amputation and even death saw reductions in prevalence of 50 to 60 percent.

Most notable of all, even as prevalence of complications has gone down, the total number of diagnoses diabetics has nearly tripled over the last two decades. According to the study, in 1990 only 6.5 million adults in the U.S. reported having diabetes, but by 2000 that number had reached over 20 million diagnosed diabetics.

According to the authors of the study, this encouraging decline in adverse complications among diabetics may have a lot to do with an increased awareness of diabetes and its risks, as well as an increased overall access to health care services for diabetics in the U.S.

Still, CDC investigators say that the work of medical professionals is far from done. The obesity epidemic that the United States has long been infamous for heavily contributes to a growing number of diabetics each year. According the CDC around 26 million Americans currently have diabetes, and a further 79 million have prediabetes, putting them at risk of developing the disease.

The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 17.