Diabetes is one of the most common and serious chronic diseases in the United States. About 20 million Americans have diabetes, 5.7 million of who do not know they have the disease. In Michigan it is estimated that 593,00 people have diabetes and 292,000 have undiagnosed diabetes. Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of death in Michigan. The prevalence of diabetes has increased steadily in the last 50 years and will continue to rise with the aging U.S. population and the increasing prevalence of obesity among Americans. The cost of diabetes is huge, in 2007 the total cost was $174 billion – direct medical costs were $116 billion and indirect costs (work loss, premature mortality) were $58 billion.
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