Study puts a total on diabetes cost: $218 billion

Diabetes is a disorder in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not use the hormone properly to move sugar from the bloodstream into cells to be converted to energy.

Some statistics on the disease, which is becoming increasingly common with the rise in obesity:

_Total direct and indirect U.S. costs of diabetes are estimated at $218 billion a year.

_For people with Type 2 diabetes, costs are estimated at $105.7 billion for medical care and $53.8 billion for indirect costs.

_For people with Type 1 diabetes, costs are estimated at $10.5 billion for medical care and $4 billion for lost productivity and other indirect costs.

_Estimated costs for people who haven't been diagnosed total $18 billion a year.

_Estimated costs for people with prediabetes total $25 billion a year.

_Estimated costs for temporary diabetes in pregnant women total $636 million a year.

_Estimated yearly patient visits for diabetes care increased from 25 million in 1994 to 36 million in 2007.

_Average number of diabetes medications prescribed per patient rose from 1.14 in 1994 to 1.63 in 2007.

_Number of Americans estimated to have diabetes in 2007: 23.6 million, including an estimated 5.7 million not yet diagnosed. The total is up from 5.6 million people in 1980.

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Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Novo Nordisk National Changing Diabetes Program, Health Services Research Network/IMS Health.

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