Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't be surprised to see an increasingly larger percentage of diabetic patients. Advances in medical care and disease management mean they face a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. But scientists predict that the number of people who are diagnosed with diabetes will continue to rise, according to a new study published in Diabetes Care.

According to the study, people with diabetes saw death drop substantially from 1997 to 2006. This was especially noticeable in the rate of deaths due to heart disease and stroke, found researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Overall, deaths of diabetic patients from all causes dropped 23 percent during the period studied. But deaths related to heart disease and stroke dropped by an impressive 40 percent. While adults who have diabetes remain more likely to die younger than those without the disease, the gap is growing smaller.

Better treatment for cardiovascular disease, improved diabetes management, and healthy lifestyle changes all contributed to the improved number, the CDC found. But, obesity levels among people with diabetes remain on the rise.

However: The fact that people with diabetes are living longer, combined with an increase in newly diagnosed diabetics means the total population of those with the disease will continue to grow, the CDC says in a press release. The number of diabetic Americans has more than tripled since 1980. This growth is due mostly to type 2 diabetes "which is closely linked to a rise in obesity, inactivity and older age," the CDC says. An estimated 25.8 million Americans have diabetes, with 7 million of that number unaware that they have the disease.