Diabetes Facts
The Scope:
- Diabetes currently affects 246 million people worldwide, and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025
- More than 3 million Canadians have some form of diabetes
- Over 300,000 Canadians live with type 1 diabetes
- Canada has the sixth highest incidence rate of type 1 diabetes in children 14 years or younger in the world
- The incidence rate of type 1 diabetes is rising by three to five per cent in Canada; the greatest rise occurs in five to nine year olds.
- Worldwide 70,000 children develop type 1 diabetes annually (almost 200 children per day)
- Globally, every ten seconds two people develop diabetes
- Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of global death by disease
- Globally, every ten seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes
- According to the International Diabetes Federation, each year 3.8 million deaths are attributable to diabetes. An even greater number die from cardiovascular disease made worse by diabetes-related lipid disorders and hypertension
The Cost:
- Diabetes is one of the costliest chronic diseases
- Diabetes and its complications cost the Canadian economy more than $15 billion a year
- By 2020, it is estimated diabetes will cost the Canadian healthcare system $16.9 billion a year
The Harm:
- Damage to Many Organ Systems: Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, adult blindness, and non-traumatic amputations. It is also a leading cause of nerve damage
- Increased Heart Disease Risk: People with diabetes are two-to-four times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people without disease
- Shortened Life: Life expectancy for people with diabetes has historically been shortened by an average of seven to 10 years, and the risk of death for people with diabetes is about double that of people of similar age without diabetes
