Diabetes is a metabolic chronic disease in which the body doesn’t process food into energy. This disease is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States by the number of death certificates listed due to this disease. Diabetes has two types: Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is due to the pancreas not producing little to not enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the way the body makes glucose and insulin resistance. Symptoms of diabetes are increased thirst, frequent urination, hunger, nausea, and fatigue. The extent of diabetes can occur in both children and adults. Most commonly, type 1 diabetes occurs in children and type 2 diabetes in adults. The significance of diabetes is the damaging of vessels that provide blood to the organs in your body. Kidney disease, stroke, vision problems and nerve problems all are associated with getting diabetes.
The morbidity of diabetes with patients aged 20 and older are 12.6% physician diagnosed and undiagnosed. It is estimated that 9.4% of the U.S. population, of all ages, had diabetes in 2015. The rate of adults with diabetes expanded with age, climbing to 25.2% among the population of people 65 years or older (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2015). The prevalence of diagnosed patients with diabetes estimated that in a population of 23.1 million people, 7.2% were diagnosed with diabetes. This sum included 132,000 children and teens under 18 years old and 193,000 under 20 years old (National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017). The rate of diabetes is increasing in children and adults due to the susceptibility of certain ethnic groups like Hispanic or African American individuals. The rates of diagnosed diabetes is 8.0% Asian Americans, 7.4% non-Hispanic whites, 12.1% Hispanics, 12.7% non-Hispanic blacks, and 15.1% American Indians/Alaskan Natives. Type 1 diabetes is the body’s inability to produce insulin which is common in young individuals. The cause has not been found yet but disease progression is thought to be caused by genetically predisposed individuals from an environmental trigger that stimulates an immune attack against the beta cells of the pancreas that produce the insulin. In type 2 diabetes the body does not make insulin either. This type does not happen commonly in the youth like but adults, but lately it has increased. Studies have found that 35% to 40% of people with diabetes who died had diabetes listed anywhere on the death certificate and about 10% to 15% had it listed as the underlying cause of death (American Diabetes Association, 2017).
The first figure represents children and adolescents younger than 20 years old, non-Hispanic whites having the highest rate of new cases of type 1 diabetes compared to members of other racial and ethnic groups. The second figure represents the children and adolescents ages 10 to 19 years old of minority populations had higher rates of type 2 diabetes compared to non-Hispanic whites. (National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017).
This figure shows a model-based county-level age-adjusted incidence of diagnosed diabetes among adults aged 20 years or older in 2013. The median age-adjusted county-level incidence of diagnosed diabetes was 8.2 per 1,000 persons, with a range of 3.1 to 21.9 per 1,000 persons. The counties in the southern and Appalachian regions of the United States tended to have the higher incidence rate (National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017).
In the first figure, it shows the trends of the different number of adults with diabetes in that region over time and the increase of population growth with its rise of prevalence in the second figure (Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants, 2016).
A hypothesis that could explain the patterns and factors that increase the risk of disease of diabetes, can be the environmental, diet and lifestyle of individuals that do not engage in being mindful of the kind of behavior they live. A Hispanic, African American or another minority individual can live in an environment that may not have the best surroundings and have easy access to foods that are not always good for the body and neglecting the seriousness of active, regular physical activity. Those that live an active lifestyle that consists of eating balanced meals, exercising regularly, and promoting the importance of living a mindful lifestyle can lower the risk of getting diabetes significantly. There is also the potential of these individuals that do not have the money or ability to buy healthier foods due to the cost of fruits and vegetables being more expensive than picking up a $5 pizza for dinner at night. Then comes the issue of health care and if the individual has the ability to visit the doctors often to prevent the risk of diabetes or to those that already have it, having enough income to be able to support and treat their diabetes. It is very important to have this because without it, it is easy for those to neglect the health care needs they may need and focus on just survival and getting through life.
Some areas that can be more epidemiologic researched on this topic of diabetes can be studying the ages in which individuals are more susceptible to developing diabetes and when it is likely to start, progress and hopefully prevent before the disease fully appears. There can also be the research of different countries and how they compare to those in the United States with individuals who are most likely to be at risk due to healthcare, lifestyle and diet. Another epidemiologic research is finding the true prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and finding other ways to test it other than conducting glucose tests. Finding other ways to test for diabetes can lead to early knowledge of it is susceptible to an individual and hopefully allow time to prevent it.