The diagnosed prevalence of diabetes in Texas nearly doubled between 1995 and 2010, according to government research.
The state’s rate rose from 5.7 percent to 10 percent during that 15-year period. The corresponding national rate grew from 4.5 percent to 8.2 percent, according to Centers for Disease Control researchers. It has increased sharply since 1990 in all age groups, both sexes and all racial and ethnic groups.
The 15-year upward trend “coincides with the increase in obesity prevalence across the U.S,” they wrote, and “is likely the result of improved survival of persons with diabetes and increasing diabetes incidence.” Mortality among U.S. adults with diabetes declined substantially between 1997 and 2006, and at a faster rate than among adults without diabetes.
Increasing incidence could be affected by several factors, including changes in diagnostic criteria, enhanced detection of undiagnosed diabetes, demographic changes in the U.S. population, and an increase in the prevalence of risk factors for the development of diabetes, such as obesity and lack of physical activity.
