Diabetes: Statistics, Prevalence, and Pathophysiology, Essay Example

Statistically, as of 2014, more than 25 million Americans suffer from various types of diabetes mellitus, especially Type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that almost 7 million Americans are undiagnosed with 79 million in a pre-diabetes condition. In 2010, almost two million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in Americans aged twenty or older. Men tend to have diabetes more often than women with about 13 million men diagnosed and 12 million women.

The prevalence of diabetes depends on the racial group that is affected by the disease. African-Americans have the highest incidence of diabetes at about 13% of the population, followed closely by Hispanics at about 12% of the total American population, and Asians at about 7% (Statistics About Diabetes, 2014). Overall, diabetes was directly responsible for more than 71,000 premature deaths in the U.S. in 2007 with an additional 160,000 dying from diabetic complications like heart disease and stroke (Statistics About Diabetes, 2014).

As to the pathophysiology of diabetes, the basic relationship that leads to the disease is the metabolism of carbohydrates and the action of insulin which is secreted by the pancreas. After consuming food, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which is then absorbed by the bloodstream, thus raising blood glucose levels. This leads to an increase in glycemia which “stimulates the secretion of insulin from the beta cells of the pancreas.” Then, due to the increase of insulin, blood glucose levels decrease which then leads to lower glucose levels in the bloodstream (Diabetes Pathophysiology, 2006). Thus, the key is food intake and the types of food that are consumed. With Type 2 diabetes, this results in 1), a peripheral resistance to insulin, such as in muscle cells; (2), an increase in the production of glucose by the liver; and (3), altered pancreatic insulin secretion (Diabetes Pathophysiology, 2006).

References

Mealey, B. L. (2006). Diabetes pathophysiology. Retrieved from http://www.health.am/db/diabetes-pathophysiology

Statistics about diabetes. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics