A new study has quantified the non-medical costs associated with Type 2 diabetes, which according to the American Diabetes Association affects ~26 million children and adults in the United States, or 8% of the population, with new diagnoses at a rate of 1.9 million cases per year.
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, tracked 15,000 people diagnosed with either Type 1 or the far more common Type 2 diabetecs from high school through their early 30s, or about 14 years. Results show that people with diabetes can expect to make $160,000 less in earnings over the course of their lifetimes as compared to non-diabetics.
The research reveals that diabetics are less likely to complete high school or attend college; by age 30, a person with diabetes is 10 percent less likely to find employment. , in part because of reduced education.
"Diabetics may be having some negative consequences pretty early on in the course of life,” ~Dr. Michael Richards, study author/Yale University
The researchers estimate that the driving force of the income and opportunity disparities for diabetics is the difficulties experienced in balancing school or job demands with the management of a chronic disease.
In addition, employers may also be less likely to hire someone with diabetes, fearing either (or both) lost productivity due to sick days because and a greater insurance burden relative to non-diabetic workers.
"Job lock" may also be a factor; job lock refers to reluctance to seek out better-paying jobs for fear of losing existing health benefit.
Earlier research confirms that chronic disease and other health indicators - for example, being overweight, can pose barriers in the job market - obesity has long been linked to lower earnings.
Although Type 2 diabetes is more often encountered among older Americans, who can face age-related discrimination, the study controls for age, and shows the deleterious effects of diabetes are independent of age: high school students with diabetes were 6% more likely to drop out, and 10% less likely to find a job.
The study also controlled and adjusted for the effect of being overweight, as well as race and other environmental and demographic factors, with results clearly showing diabetes having a negative effect on income independent of other factors.
Intergenerational effects were also noted: children of diabetics were 6% less likely to attend college if they had a diabetic parent, possibly due to the financial impact of diabetes on the family income/savings.
Diabetes: Stealing The Future of Our Children?
Current estimates place obesity rates among adolescents between 16-32%, a statistic that has the A panel of experts appointed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a report recommending screening for Type 2 Diabetes should begin before age 10 for children who are overweight and/or have a family history of diabetes.
Read: Is Weight Loss Surgery a Drastic Solution to the Problem of Childhood Obesity?
The problem of childhood obesity is so severe the New England Journal of Medicine has opined that the next generation of children may be the first in history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.First Lady Michele Obama's Let's Move initiative to reduce childhood obesity is aptly named; recent research has discovered an 'exercise hormone' (nicknamed "irisis" by scientists). The hormone helps transform inert white fat into metabolically active brown fat; while overweight people who exercise may not lose weight, they experience the benefit of the hormone making them weight-gain and diabetes resistant.
Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the US, and will likely move up the mortality ladder given that nearly 80 million Americans are currently classified by the ADA as "prediabetic".
Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure and adult blindness, and is linked to increases incidence of heart disease, stroke, cancer diagnosis and death.
The current gold standard of bariatric surgery for obesity has the welcome side effect of resolving Type 2 diabetes. The popular Dr. Oz was recently quoted in Prevention Magazine recommending gastric bypass surgery, a procedure he considers essential in the fight against obesity.
Read: 10 Celebrities Who Have Had Weight Loss Surgery
Dr. Oz points out that an obese 50-year old has the same mortality rate as a cancer patient - most would not hesitate to operate for cancer, and the same should be true of obesity. "If you get people to start losing 5% of their excess body weight, you're really taking a big whack out of (a serious health problem that is affecting) the two-thirds of Americans," he notes.
Dr. Oz points out that an obese 50-year old has the same mortality rate as a cancer patient - most would not hesitate to operate for cancer, and the same should be true of obesity. "If you get people to start losing 5% of their excess body weight, you're really taking a big whack out of (a serious health problem that is affecting) the two-thirds of Americans," he notes.
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