Diabetes and Diabetes Prevention
Diabetes is a chronic disease in which blood sugar (glucose) levels are above normal. The rate of new cases of diagnosed diabetes in the United States has begun to fall, but the numbers are still very high. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) is working to reverse the diabetes epidemic in New York State by focusing on diabetes prevention, identifying people with prediabetes, and collecting data on prevalence of diabetes to help improve the health of all people with diabetes.
Diabetes in New York State
- An estimated 1.8 million New York State adults report being diagnosed with diabetes (11.4%)
- The prevalence of diabetes is higher among adults from all other race groups combined (16.6%), Black, non-Hispanic adults (13.7%), and Hispanic adults (12.7%) when compared to White non-Hispanic adults (9.5%).
Diabetes in the United States
- About 38.4 million Americans have diabetes
- Diabetes is the 8th leading cause of death in the United States
- The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2022 is $413 billion
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Prediabetes
How many New Yorkers have prediabetes?
Around 1 in 3 (34.5%) adults in the United States have prediabetes. Using this number, as many as 5.3 million adult New Yorkers may have prediabetes.
In 2021, only 11.5% of adults in New York said that their health care team told them they had prediabetes. Most New Yorkers with prediabetes do not know they have it.
Before people develop diabetes, they almost always have prediabetes first. Prediabetes is a condition where a person's blood sugar level is higher than normal but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as diabetes.
Without lifestyle changes, 15-30% of people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years. People with prediabetes are also at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, and for having heart disease and stroke.
The good news is that people can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes by:
- Participating in a CDC-recognized diabetes prevention lifestyle change program to learn skills and get resources to help make healthy changes
- Losing small amounts of weight (5 to 7 percent of total body weight)
- Making healthy food choices
- Being more physically active, 150 minutes per week
There are many resources available to help people find out if they are at risk for prediabetes, and to help people with prediabetes prevent or delay diabetes:
- To find out if you or a loved one are at risk for prediabetes, take the online risk test
- Are you a health care provider who wants more information on how to diagnose patients with prediabetes? Visit the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control Prevent Diabetes STAT Toolkit for more information
- Learn more about the National Diabetes Prevention Program near you:
For More Information, Contact:
The New York State Diabetes Prevention and Control Program150 Broadway – Suite 350
Albany NY 12204-0678
Phone: (518) 408-5142
E-mail: ManageYourHealthNY@health.ny.gov
Additional Resources
References:
- Prediabetes, New York State Adults, BRFSS Brief., No. 2022-18. Albany, New York: New York State Department of Health, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention. Bureau of Chronic Disease Evaluation and Research, 2022. Available at: 2022-18 BRFSS Prediabetes
