Half of Americans facing diabetes by 2020: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? More than half of Americans will have diabetes or be prediabetic by 2020 at a cost to the U.S. health care system of $3.35 trillion if current trends go on unabated, according to analysis of a new report released on Tuesday by health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Diabetes and prediabetes will account for an estimated 10 percent of total health care spending by the end of the decade at an annual cost of almost $500 billion -- up from an estimated $194 billion this year, according to the report titled "The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead."

The average annual health care costs in 2009 for a person with known diabetes were about $11,700 compared with about $4,400 for the non-diabetic public, according to new data in the report drawn from 10 million UnitedHealthcare members.

The average annual cost nearly doubles to $20,700 for a person with complications related to diabetes, the report said. Complications related to diabetes can include heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, blindness and circulatory problems that can lead to wounds that will not heal and limb amputations.

Diabetes, which is reaching epidemic proportions and is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the United States, currently affects about 26 million Americans.

Another 67 million Americans are estimated to have prediabetes, which may not have any obvious symptoms. More than 60 million Americans are unaware that they have the condition, according to UnitedHealth.

People with prediabetes have higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetics often have other risk factors, such as overweight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The 52-page UnitedHealth report also focuses on the growing obesity epidemic as that condition is a leading cause of diabetes.

The authors of the report contend the skyrocketing cost forecasts are not inevitable, however, if the crisis is tackled aggressively, including early intervention to prevent prediabetes from becoming diabetes.

"Because diabetes follows a progressive course, often starting with obesity and then moving to prediabetes, there are multiple opportunities to intervene early on and prevent this devastating disease before it's too late," Deneen Vojta, senior vice president of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, said in a statement.

"What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action," Simon Stevens, chairman of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, said in a statement.

"Making a major impact on the prediabetes and diabetes epidemic will require health plans to engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models." Stevens added.

If solutions for tackling the epidemic offered in the report were adopted broadly and scaled nationally it could lead to cost savings of up to $250 billion over the next 10 years, according to the UnitedHealth analysis.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; editing by Andre Grenon)

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The United States Of Diabetes: New Report Shows Half The Country Could Have Diabetes Or Prediabetes At A Cost Of $3.35 Trillion By 2020

Main Category: Diabetes
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More than 50 percent of Americans could have diabetes or prediabetes by 2020 at a cost of $3.35 trillion over the next decade if current trends continue, according to new analysis by UnitedHealth Group's (NYSE: UNH) Center for Health Reform & Modernization, but there are also practical solutions for slowing the trend.

New estimates show diabetes and prediabetes will account for an estimated 10 percent of total health care spending by the end of the decade at an annual cost of almost $500 billion - up from an estimated $194 billion this year.

The report, "The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead," produced for this month's National Diabetes Awareness month, offers practical solutions that could improve health and life expectancy, while also saving up to $250 billion over the next 10 years, if programs to prevent and control diabetes are adopted broadly and scaled nationally. This figure includes $144 billion in potential savings to the federal government in Medicare, Medicaid and other public programs.

Key solution steps include lifestyle interventions to combat obesity and prevent prediabetes from becoming diabetes and medication control programs and lifestyle intervention strategies to help improve diabetes control.

"Our new research shows there is a diabetes time bomb ticking in America, but fortunately there are practical steps that can be taken now to defuse it," said Simon Stevens, executive vice president, UnitedHealth Group, and chairman of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization. "What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action. Making a major impact on the prediabetes and diabetes epidemic will require health plans to engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models. Done right, the human and economic benefits for the nation could be substantial."

The annual health care costs in 2009 for a person with diagnosed diabetes averaged approximately $11,700 compared to an average of $4,400 for the remainder of the population, according to new data drawn from 10 million UnitedHealthcare members. The average cost climbs to $20,700 for a person with complications related to diabetes. The report also provides estimates on the prevalence and costs of diabetes, based on health insurance status and payer, and evaluates the impact on worker productivity and costs to employers.

Diabetes currently affects about 27 million Americans and is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the nation. Another 67 million Americans are estimated to have prediabetes. There are often no symptoms, and many people do not even know they have the disease. In fact, more than 60 million Americans do not know that they have prediabetes. Experts predict that one out of three children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetimes, putting them at grave risk for heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, blindness and limb amputation.

Estimates in the report were calculated using the same model as the widely-cited 2007 study on the national cost burden of diabetes commissioned by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Diabetes and Obesity

The report also focuses on obesity and its relationship to diabetes. Being overweight or obese is one of the primary risk factors for diabetes, and with more than two-thirds of American adults and 17 percent of children overweight or obese, the risk is clearly rising. In fact, over half of adults in the U.S. who are overweight or obese have either prediabetes or diabetes, and studies have shown that gaining just 11-16 pounds doubles the risk of type 2 diabetes and gaining 17-24 pounds nearly triples the risk.

"Because diabetes follows a progressive course, often starting with obesity and then moving to prediabetes, there are multiple opportunities to intervene early and prevent this devastating disease before it's too late," said Deneen Vojta, M.D., senior vice president of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, who helped develop UnitedHealth Group's Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance.

Solutions

The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead focuses on four categories of potential cost savings over the next 10 years:

- Lifestyle Intervention to Combat Obesity: There is an opportunity to reduce the number of people who would develop prediabetes or diabetes by nearly 10 million Americans, through public health initiatives and the wider use of wellness programs to combat obesity.

- Early Intervention to Prevent Prediabetes from Becoming Diabetes: Evidence from randomized controlled trials and UnitedHealth Group's own experience demonstrates that the use of community-based intervention programs - such as the UnitedHealth Group Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) in partnership with the Y - could reduce the number of people with prediabetes who convert to diabetes by an additional 3 million. The DPP is based on the original U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC, which demonstrated that with lifestyle changes and modest weight reduction, individuals with prediabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by 58 percent.

- Diabetes Control through Medication and Care Compliance Programs: Better management of diabetes through improved medication and care compliance programs can help control the disease and reduce complications, such as UnitedHealth Group's Diabetes Control Program (in partnership with community pharmacists).

- Lifestyle Intervention Strategies for Diabetes Control: The wider use of public-private partnerships to develop the infrastructure to scale nationally the promising learnings of the Look AHEAD Trial.

The report's analysis draws on evidence-based, practical solutions derived from research, pilot programs and UnitedHealth Group's own experience serving more than 75 million individuals worldwide.

Source:
UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization
UnitedHealth Group

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Report: Half of Americans Facing Diabetes by 2020

More than half of Americans will have diabetes or be prediabetic by 2020 at a cost to the U.S. health care system of $3.35 trillion if current trends go on unabated, according to analysis of a new report released on Tuesday by health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Diabetes and prediabetes will account for an estimated 10 percent of total health care spending by the end of the decade at an annual cost of almost $500 billion -- up from an estimated $194 billion this year, according to the report titled "The United States of Diabetes: Challenges and Opportunities in the Decade Ahead."

The average annual health care costs in 2009 for a person with known diabetes were about $11,700 compared with about $4,400 for the non-diabetic public, according to new data in the report drawn from 10 million UnitedHealthcare members.

The average annual cost nearly doubles to $20,700 for a person with complications related to diabetes, the report said. Complications related to diabetes can include heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, blindness and circulatory problems that can lead to wounds that will not heal and limb amputations.

Diabetes, which is reaching epidemic proportions and is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the United States, currently affects about 26 million Americans.

Another 67 million Americans are estimated to have prediabetes, which may not have any obvious symptoms. More than 60 million Americans are unaware that they have the condition, according to UnitedHealth.

People with prediabetes have higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetics often have other risk factors, such as overweight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The 52-page UnitedHealth report also focuses on the growing obesity epidemic as that condition is a leading cause of diabetes.

The authors of the report contend the skyrocketing cost forecasts are not inevitable, however, if the crisis is tackled aggressively, including early intervention to prevent prediabetes from becoming diabetes.

"Because diabetes follows a progressive course, often starting with obesity and then moving to prediabetes, there are multiple opportunities to intervene early on and prevent this devastating disease before it's too late," Deneen Vojta, senior vice president of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, said in a statement.

"What is now needed is concerted, national, multi-stakeholder action," Simon Stevens, chairman of the UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, said in a statement.

"Making a major impact on the prediabetes and diabetes epidemic will require health plans to engage consumers in new ways, while working to scale nationally some of the most promising preventive care models." Stevens added.

If solutions for tackling the epidemic offered in the report were adopted broadly and scaled nationally it could lead to cost savings of up to $250 billion over the next 10 years, according to the UnitedHealth analysis.

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CellerateRX® Effectively Manages Diabetic Ulcers, New CDC Report Indicates Type 2 Diabetes On The Rise

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Dermatology
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Wound Management Technologies, Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: WNDM) a leader in advanced wound care solutions, is meeting the challenge of a rise in type 2 diabetes in the US, as chronicled by a new report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). The report published in the October 22, 2010 journal Population Health Metrics recommends that proper diet and physical activity can prevent type 2 diabetes and reduce its complications, among the most severe of which are diabetic ulcers and amputations. Wound Management, exclusive worldwide licensee and distributor of CellerateRX® wound care powder and gel, further recommends that existing diabetic patients who suffer from moderate to heavily exudative wounds should ask their doctor whether CellerateRX® may be an effective treatment for them. CellerateRX® is the only activated Type 1 collagen-based product reimbursed by Medicare and has been shown to effectively manage diabetic ulcers.

Diabetes is $174B Cost to US Economy

The current CDC report states that the total costs of diabetes are currently estimated to be $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical costs. If CDC recommendations are not widely adopted and current trends of obesity continue, diabetes is projected to affect between 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 Americans by 2050.

Untreated Diabetic Wounds Can Lead to Amputations

Diabetics are at high-risk for wound infection due to their varying blood sugar levels, circulation changes, and impaired local immune defenses, all of which predispose them to delayed healing and infection. Diabetic wound complications are the most common cause of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations in the industrialized world. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), sixty percent of lower limb amputations are associated with diabetes. "Between 15-25% of people with diabetes will develop foot and leg ulcers at some point (1) in their lives," said Cathy Bradshaw, President of Wound Care Innovations, LLC.

CellerateRX® Effectively Manages Diabetic Ulcers

Wound Care Innovations' advanced wound care collagen product, CellerateRX®, has been shown in multiple clinical applications and settings to be extremely effective in managing these challenging diabetic wounds. In one study, wounds where CellerateRX® was applied were healed within five (5) weeks with a once or twice per week application. This is in contrast to the control wounds that were only approximately 80% healed at twelve (12) weeks.(2) "The ideal product to effectively manage these difficult wounds provides for quality outcomes in a cost effective manner," said Dr. Larry Baratta, VP of Medical Affairs. "CellerateRX® has been shown to do just this." Jane Fore MD, FAPWCA, FACCWS, Medical Director, Tri-State Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center states, "CellerateRX is the standard of care in my clinic. This product is compatible with other wound care products and gives the wound environment the basic building blocks for growth, and contributes an essential part of the wound matrix that supports the migration of cells to healing tissues. Wound healing deficiencies are more common in diabetics and CellerateRX® collagen provides an essential factor that aids in overcoming challenges in healing diabetic wounds."

CellerateRX® Activated Collagen is the Differentiator

CellerateRX's activated collagen (approximately 1/100th the size of native collagen) delivers the essential benefits of collagen to a wound immediately, where other forms of native, intact collagen in commercially available products require time for the body to prepare the collagen for use in the wound healing process. In people with compromised health or circulation, the difference in wound healing can be significant.

CellerateRX® is FDA cleared for all wound types except for 3rd degree burns and is available in both powder and gel form. In addition to being used in healthcare settings throughout the country, CellerateRX® is easily applied by patients by themselves at home.

Safe Harbor Statement:

The statements in the press release that relate to the company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the company's results from new products in development and any other statements not constituting historical facts are "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of and subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Since this information may contain statements that involve risk and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the company's actual results may differ materially from expected results. This document may contain forward-looking statements concerning the Company's operations, current and future performance and financial condition. These items involve risks, contingencies and uncertainties such as product demand, market and customer acceptance, the effect of economic conditions, competition, pricing, the ability to consummate and integrate acquisitions, and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties detailed in the Company's SEC filings, which could cause the company's actual operating results, performance or business plans or prospects to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect the future circumstances or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

References

(1) Archive for the "Diabetic Skin Ulcers," April 2010

(2) "Activated Collagen: An Evidence Based Study in Human Leg Ulcers," Dr. Regulski, SAWC 2009

Source: Wound Management Technologies, Inc.

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Report: Diabetes patients may triple by 2050

If you think health care costs are spiraling out of control now, imagine the ramifications of a new federal report that projects 1 in 3 American adults could have diabetes by 2050.

"Diabetes is a very expensive disease," said Irene O'Shaughnessy, an endocrinologist at Froedtert Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin. "It is an overwhelming problem."

The number of Americans with diabetes is projected to double or triple over the next 40 years, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this month in the journal Population Health Metrics.

The report cites three key demographic factors: an aging population more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, the kind associated with obesity; increases in minority groups that are at high risk for Type 2 diabetes; and people with diabetes living longer. The projections are higher than previous estimates because the study factored in aging, minority populations and life span.

People with diagnosed diabetes have medical costs more than twice that of those without the disease. The total costs of diabetes are an estimated $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical costs, according to the CDC.

About 24 million Americans ? 1 in 10 adults ? have diabetes, and one-quarter of them do not know they have it, the CDC says.

The CDC report predicts the number of new diabetes cases each year will increase from 8 per 1,000 people in 2008, to 15 per 1,000 in 2050.

It gives a range for the predicted increase ? from 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 by 2050 ? to reflect differing assumptions about how many people will develop diabetes and how long they will live after developing the disease.

"These are alarming numbers that show how critical it is to change the course of Type 2 diabetes," Ann Albright, director of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, said in a prepared statement. "Successful programs to improve lifestyle choices on healthy eating and physical activity must be made more widely available, because the stakes are too high and the personal toll too devastating to fail."

The new projections assume recent increases in new cases of diabetes will continue and people with diabetes will live longer.

"It's probably more accurate than other studies because they had more information to make the projections," said Sue Kirkman, senior vice president of medical affairs and community information for the American Diabetes Association.

"We definitely know that people with diabetes are living longer than they did 20 years ago, and are less likely to have complications," Kirkman said.

That doesn't mean diabetes isn't expensive to manage, she added.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to control blood sugar levels.

Proper diet and physical activity can reduce the risk of diabetes and help control the condition in people who have it. Effective prevention programs directed at groups at high risk of Type 2 diabetes can considerably reduce future increases in diabetes prevalence, but will not eliminate them, the CDC report says.

The CDC earlier this year launched a National Diabetes Prevention Program to bring evidence-based programs for preventing Type 2 diabetes to communities. The program supports establishing a network of lifestyle intervention programs for overweight or obese people at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The interventions emphasize dietary changes, coping skills and group support to help participants lose 5 percent to 7 percent of their body weight and get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity.

"Teaching people how to eat right takes multiple visits," said O'Shaughnessy, the endocrinologist. "It's an expensive program to staff, and you have to keep reinforcing the better habits."

Many insurance companies only pay for one visit per year with a dietitian, which isn't enough to change behaviors, O'Shaughnessy said.

"Prevention starts in the home with children growing up with a healthy lifestyle, and with educating parents so they don't transfer bad habits to their children," she said.

Counseling those with diabetes is a challenge, said Ramin Alemzadeh, a pediatric endocrinologist, professor of pediatrics and senior clinician scientist with the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

"In our practice, about 15 percent of families don't want dietary counseling because their insurance company will deny the fee," even though doctors consider it vital, he said.

Insurance companies argue that people do not easily change lifestyles, Alemzadeh said.

He agrees, but suggests public health policy should offer incentives for lifestyle changes.

"Some people argue you can't bribe people; they should do it on their own. But people won't do it on their own if they aren't motivated."

PREVENTING DIABETES

Interventions for those at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes:

Dietary changes, with less fat and smaller portions

Lose 5 percent to 7 percent of body weight

At least 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity

If you have risk factors, get tested

Source: National Diabetes Prevention Program, Centers for Disease Control and Preventions

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