data & Statistics
Diabetes in Virginia is Common, Serious, Costly, Controllable, and Preventable.
Serious - Diabetes was the 6th leading cause of death in Virginia in 2005. Diabetes can cause heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, pregnancy complications, amputations of the leg, foot and toe, as well as, deaths related to flu and pneumonia.
Overall, Virginia’s mortality rate due to diabetes has decreased slightly from 1999 (24.0 per 100,000) to 2004 (22.0 per 100,000). Blacks consistently have more than double the mortality rates due to diabetes than whites: 43.7 per 100,000 vs. 18.0 per 100,000, respectively in 2004. The rates for males are also consistently higher than those for females.
The leading cause of death for persons with diabetes is cardiovascular disease. Nationally, three quarters of deaths to persons with diabetes are due to cardiovascular disease. In Virginia, the figure is slightly less, but still very high at 65%.
Regardless of gender or race, persons with diabetes are much more likely to have end-stage renal disease (ESRD) than persons without diabetes. However, the disparity and overall rate of ESRD is much higher among blacks than whites. Blacks with diabetes in Virginia have 5 to 6 times the rate of ESRD found among whites with diabetes.
There are both gender and racial disparities in the rates of non-traumatic lower extremity amputations. Males have twice the rate of females and rates for blacks are about 3.5 times higher than rates for whites.
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