Americans Suffering from Diabetes in Greater Numbers

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 14, 2008 at 8:10 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death by disease in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease now affects 24 million Americans, or 8 percent of the popu

Tom Fudge : Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death, by disease, in the U.S. today. The disease now afflicts 24 million people. That's eight percent of the population. The vast majority of those people suffer from type-2 diabetes, an illness that's related to inactivity and weight problems. An illness that is highly preventable.

It's clear that people who are obese are at risk of becoming diabetic. In fact, today they talk about people who are "pre-diabetic." They have conditions that show they're already heading down the road to a diagnosis.

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The next "Taking Control of Your Diabetes" lecture is Tuesday, July 22, 2008, from 7-9 pm, at UCSD's Preuss School.

Guests

Dr. Steven Edelman , professor of medicine at UCSD and the VA Medical Center in San Diego. Steven was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 15 years old.
Dr. Matthias von Herrath , director of the Diabetes Center at La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology and a professor of pediatrics at UCSD. He received two national awards this year for his work on Type 1 diabetes.