Growing obesity epidemic will double diabetes population and triple medical costs by 2034

Wednesday, December 02, 2009 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: diabetes, health care costs, health news

(NaturalNews) According to a study published in the December issue of Diabetes Care, the number of Americans with diabetes will double from 23.7 million in 2009 to 44.1 million in 2034. Consequently, the costs associated with treatment and care for diabetics will triple from $45 billion this year to $171 billion in 25 years.

Michael O'Grady, Ph.D., one of the study authors and senior fellow at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, indicated that obesity is the primary cause of the projected increase in new diabetic cases. By 2034, over 50 percent of Medicare expenses will be spent treating diabetics.

Study authors emphasized that the purpose of the study was to provide lawmakers with an avenue for assessing ways to cut treatment costs. Though obesity rates are expected to taper off in the future, the number of obese people is not expected to decrease substantially. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) prediction figures did not take this into account nor did they consider disease progression or the effects of treatments in their models, two additional areas the study aimed to capture in its model.

One factor missing from CBO models that was addressed by the study was proposed preventive health legislation. Such legislation would help to curb the dramatic increase in diabetes cases by implementing preventive treatment strategies for diabetics who are in the early stages of the disease. Though expensive initially, experts predict that the long-term savings will greatly reduce the overall financial burden of treating the disease.

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Now even mainstream researchers are finally getting the picture: America's sick-care system will bankrupt the nation. And diabetes and obesity will lead the way in driving the country into a total financial wipeout.

It doesn't have to be this way, however. Diabetes costs don't have to triple. We can turn this whole thing around with some simple, low-cost measures that I've outlined in a tell-all special report entitled, Nutrition Can Save America! (https://www.naturalnews.com/report_Nutrition_...)

Of course, saving America from disease-induced bankruptcy will require gutting the pharmaceutical industry, outlawing most corporate advertising and investing in health rather than disease. Personally, I'm not sure America's leaders have any intention to save this nation. They seem to be bent on destroying it -- financially, spiritually, ethically and through the destruction of health and hope.

Only common sense can save America now, and there is absolutely no common sense remaining in Washington D.C. except for in the office of a lone Congressman -- a doctor, actually -- who the global elite will never allow to become President. I'm talking about Rep. Ron Paul, of course, the sponsor of the Health Freedom Protection Act -- an unpopular bill that could help free America from the enslavement of the FDA and Big Pharma.

Sources for this story include:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/diab...