Riding for the Cure is all about the bottom line, raising funds to support research to find a cure for diabetes! Training for the Ride to Cure Diabetes is something that can be tough from time to time. However, before I get into the thick of training for 2010, I wanted to be sure I was up on the latest diabetes statistics. Upon completion of very scientific research (compliments of Google, sorry bing), I learned about a few interesting stats that I'd like to share briefly.
- The US is currently #3 in the world for diabetes prevalence with an estimate 26.8. million. India and China are #1 and #2 with 50.8 and 43.2 million cases, respectively.
- If a cure is not found by 2030, diabetes cases will increase to at least 36 million in the US alone.
- Well over 200,000 people die annually in the US due to diabetes and its complications. The CDC reports that in 2000 diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death in US.
There are also a few misconceptions about diabetes that I wanted to dispel.
- Type 1 diabetes is caused by a complete ceasing of insulin production in ones pancreas. In a type 1 diabetic (like myself), the pancreas completely quits working and therefore it is necessary to take insulin from another source (shots, insulin pump, etc.). Type 1 diabetes is not preventable.
- Type 2 diabetes is when someones pancreas is still producing some insulin but their body is simply not able to process the insulin correctly any longer. The #1 cause of type 2 diabetes is obesity and type 2 is the most common type of diabetes in the world today. Type 2 is sometimes, but not always, preventable.
- In some cases, both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is linked to genetics. However, in many cases, there is not any genetic link (for instance, there is not any known diabetes in any of my immediate family).
* Most stats noted are per the IDF, International Diabetes Federation. The misconceptions noted above are from a number of sources.
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