Diabetes Related Complications Drop Over Last 2 Decades, CDC Says

The latest diabetes data from the Centers for Disease Control highlights a drop in some major diabetes-related complications among the U.S. adults.

According to a latest study by CDC, over the last 20 years there has been a significant decline in the rates of five major diabetes-related complications. The major complications include lower-limb amputation, end-stage kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and deaths due to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels).

"These findings show that we have come a long way in preventing complications and improving quality of life for people with diabetes," Edward Gregg, Ph.D., a senior epidemiologist in CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation and lead author of the study, said in a statement. "While the declines in complications are good news, they are still high and will stay with us unless we can make substantial progress in preventing type 2 diabetes."

The study claims that there has been a 30 percent reduction in rates of end stage kidney failure, nearly 50 percent decline in stroke and lower-limb amputation (including ankles, feet, toes and upper-lower leg). A massive 60 percent fall in cardiovascular complications and mortality due to high blood sugar levels was also noted.

Since there was a three-fold increase in the number of adults reporting diabetes during this time i.e. from 6.5 million  it went up to 20.7 million, these complications have been a major concern for the U.S. health care system. Over 26 million U.S. adults report suffering from diabetes and 79 million of them have prediabetes and at a major risk of developing the disease.

Every year, the total medical cost for diabetes and its complication sum up to a total $176 billion.

The major decline was seen in heart attacks and stroke especially among older adults of ages 75 and older. According to the authors, this significant decline is due to the improved and increased access to health care services, risk factor control and increase in awareness of complications linked to diabetes.

LiveScience reports that the study did not include rate of certain diabetes related complications such as blindness and low blood sugar as data on these conditions over the last two decades was not available.  Also the researchers differentiated between complications of Type1 and Type2 diabetes.

The finding was documented in the New England journal of Medicine.