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Diabetes And The Prevalence Of Diabetes Essay

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In 2008/09 close to 2.4 million Canadians were with diabetes (Type I and Type II) with 20% of diabetes cases remaining undiagnosed (Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), 2011a). The prevalence of diabetes in Canada is higher amongst males when compared to females (PHAC, 2011a). Table 1 indicates that a higher number of men experience years life lost (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD) and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) when compared to women (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2013). Interestingly, the mortality rate as a result of diabetes is slightly lower amongst males (IHME, 2013).

In Canada, diabetes is not typically reported as the cause of death in vital statistics data, underestimating the association between diabetes and mortality (PHAC, 2011b). However, diabetes complications are associated with premature death and reduced quality of life (Katzmarzyk, Gledhill, & Shephard, 2000). Complications associated with diabetes include: heart disease, ocular disease, kidney failure, nerve problems, lower extremity complications (amputations), gestational diabetes, anxiety, and depression (Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), 2015). Family history, pre-diabetes, aging, obesity, history of diabetes related to pregnancy, and physical inactivity are risk factors associated with diabetes (CDA, 2015).

Table 1. 2010 Estimates of Mortality rates, YLL rates, YLD rates, and DALY rates as a result of Diabetes in Canada (number of individuals).

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