The Diabetes Epidemic
In 2010, diabetes afflicted 25.8 million people in the United States, an overwhelming 8.3% of the total population. Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases where the body does not produce enough insulin to control the blood sugar. There are two main forms of diabetes-type 1 and type 2. Persons with type 1 diabetes do not produce enough insulin, whereas type 2 diabetes is the body’s failure to respond to the insulin produced. Type 2 is most often brought on by a combination of genetics and weight gain as a result of a sedentary lifestyle, and it accounts for 90-95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes in adults. It is type 2 diabetes that poses the greatest threat to Americans and American companies today.
The Effects of Diabetes
With obesity on the climb, it is no surprise that diabetes is more prevalent today than ever before. The type 2 diabetes incidence rate has jumped from 3.5% in the early 1990s to a rate over 13% today, and this number is projected to continue to rise over 25% in the next two decades. Worse yet, nearly one third of Americans are already in the pre-diabetes stage. Pre-diabetes is characterized by higher than normal blood sugar levels that are still under the threshold (125 mg/dl) for diabetes diagnosis. The good news is it takes people with pre-diabetes up to 10 years to develop type 2 diabetes.
If the United States population does not measurably lower its risk for diabetes and pre-diabetes, there will likely be an overwhelming increase not only in the number people diagnosed with diabetes but also in the amount of money used on their medical needs. The U.S. spent approximately $174 billion in total cost for diabetes in 2007. Indirect expenses — including absenteeism, reduced productivity and disability payments — contributed $58 billion of that total.
In addition to the losses incurred from indirect expenditures of diabetes, the direct medical costs can take a toll on employers’ health insurance plans. The average cost of an employee with type 2 diabetes is over $22,500, compared to the $1,700 for a healthy employee. Medications, medical care, and treatment supplies are just some of the costs employers face which can have a dramatic impact on their company’s financials.
On top of the initial spending for diabetes, the disease is known to affect many areas of the body and may eventually lead to more serious complications. Diabetes is associated with heart disease and stroke, hypertension, blindness and eye problems, kidney disease, nervous system damage, amputations, and dental disease. With risk like this, individuals and employers need a proactive approach to avoid diabetes.
How to Temper the Epidemic
Weight gain driven by unhealthy eating habits, sedentary work environments, and overall inactivity is the main culprit of the diabetes outbreak. According to the Center for Disease Control, many people with type 2 diabetes can control their blood glucose by changing those habits with diet and exercise, self-management education, and medication as needed.
Prevention through lifestyle changes is the best way to combat development and treatment of diabetes. The metabolic disorder is the result of a missed health opportunity for the 5-15 years before a person is diagnosed with diabetes. A recent Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) study showed that diet and exercise worked better than some medications in preventing and reducing diabetes. The DPP found that a decrease of 5-10% in body weight can produce a 58% reduction in diabetes.
As employers, you can utilize health plans as an option for a new type of loss control in dealing with the diabetes epidemic. Providing your employees with incentives for healthy behavior can empower your staff to adapt better habits and improve the status of their health. There are a variety of programs available to employers that focus on re-educating employees on diet and physical fitness, promising both financial and medical benefits.
One such program teaches employees how, what and when to eat through a ten-week, online course. This program concentrates on lowering the primary health risk factors that warn of most diseases. Called Metabolic Syndrome, these benchmark factors are characterized by having an elevated waist circumference, fasting glucose, triglycerides and blood pressure and a reduced HDL level. Comparing pre-program percentage to post-program percentage, the amount of participants at diabetic risk changed by -30%, proving the efficacy of this program’s healthy incentives and education.
Contact Holmes Murphy for more information.