After decades of considering diabetes as a public health crisis, new records show a decline in the number of people getting diabetes.
Diabetes is likely to heighten the health risks for a person. It is said to increase the likelihood of an individual to experience heart attack, stroke, and blindness. Other health issues include nerve damage and circulatory conditions that may even lead to amputation of the affected parts.
However, it doesn't mean that the crisis has ended. In 2014 alone, at least 1.4 million people were diagnosed with the condition according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's still significant drop from the 1.7 million cases in 2009.
Ann Albright, the director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, says that the numbers are going in the right path though she admitted that it is still a long way to go.
The number of cases every year is triple the cases reported way back in 1980. About 9 percent of the U.S. population, exactly 29 million people are diagnosed with the condition. Reports show that Black and Hispanic descent remain susceptible for the disease.
Dr David Nathan, a diabetes researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School said, "It's not like we've beaten the epidemic, but it's the first good news we've had in several decades." He is hoping that the trend continues because it will mean that the number of diagnosis will decline as well.
The CDC information came from a national survey that combine Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is diagnosed in childhood and obesity is not a factor. On the other hand, Type 2 is more common and usually diagnosed in older people. Obesity and sedentary lifestyle are factors.
Albright recognizes the National Institute's of Health's Diabetes Prevention Program as one of the key elements in the decline. The program shows that losing weight and more exercises greatly reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
People's preference in food, lifestyle and awareness are also contributing factors.
