The agency’s information on diabetes in Lancaster County is available only through 2012, but shows a similar pattern: Adult incidence of diagnosed diabetes here was 10 per 1,000 people in 2009 and dropped to 7.2 per 1,000 people in 2012 (although the agency also noted that its methods changed in 2011).
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“After so many years of seeing increases, it is surprising”, said Edward Gregg, a diabetes expert who has been tracking the numbers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC data showed that rates for high school-educated Americans improved more than for the undereducated, but even the latter saw a slight decrease in newly reported diabetes cases. That’s more than 330,000 (about a fifth) fewer new cases than there were in 2008.
Diabetes had been climbing for decades, driven by surging obesity rates.
There is not a significant difference between the number of new cases for men and women.
The data comes from a large national survey conducted by the government every year.
Dr. Rita J. Louard, director of the Clinical Diabetes Program at Montefiore Medical Center (Moses Campus) and director of the Montefiore Diabetes Clinic. “But we probably don’t want to say we’ve won the battle and everyone go home”.
According to The New York Times, it is unclear if diabetes prevention is behind this drop in new cases, or if diabetes has hit its peak in the population.
There are still 1.4 million new adult cases of diabetes each year, he noted.
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Diabetes, a disease that causes blood glucose levels to be above normal and sugar build-up in the blood, can cause serious health problems such as blindness, heart disease, kidney disease, and amputation of lower limbs. However, the report does note the new CDC data is in line with evidence Americans are starting to be more health conscious, improving both eating and exercise.
