After 20-year Increase, New Diabetes Cases Decline

After 20-year Increase, New Diabetes Cases Decline

June 2019

After 20-year Increase, New Diabetes Cases Decline 35% drop in new diabetes diagnoses – and no increase in total cases New cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States decreased by 35% since a peak in 2009 – the first sign that efforts to stop the nation’s diabetes epidemic are working, CDC researchers report in the British Medical Journal’s Open Diabetes Research and Care. In the United States, the number of people living with diagnosed diabetes and new cases of diabetes doubled in the 1990s and throughout the 2000s, becoming one of the country’s most troubling public health threats. The number of people living with diagnosed diabetes increased by 4.4% per year from 1990-2009 to a peak of 8.2 per 100 adults, before plateauing to 8 per 100 adults in 2017. Similar trends were seen across ages, racial and ethnic groups and education levels. While the causes of the plateau and decrease remain unclear, researchers suggest that they may be driven in part by increased awareness of – and emphasis on – type 2 diabetes prevention, changes in diet and physical activity, and changes in diabetes diagnostic and screening practices. The new report represents the longest sustained plateau in existing cases of diagnosed diabetes and the longest decline in new diabetes cases. For more information: CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation National Diabetes Prevention Program CDC Diabetes on Facebook @CDCDiabetes on Twitter