July 20 (UPI) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report showing 100 million adults in the United States are living with diabetes or prediabetes.
The report found that as of 2015, 30.3 million Americans have diabetes, representing 9.4 percent of the population. Another 84.1 million people have prediabetes, the condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes if left untreated.
The rate of new diabetes diagnoses remains steady even as the disease continues to be a growing health burden in the country.
"Although these findings reveal some progress in diabetes management and prevention, there are still too many Americans with diabetes and prediabetes," CDC Director Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, said in a press release. "More than a third of U.S. adults have prediabetes, and the majority don't know it. Now, more than ever, we must step up our efforts to reduce the burden of this serious disease."
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In 2015, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States and an estimated 1.5 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in adults age 18 and older.
The report also found that nearly one in four adults in the United States are living with diabetes and do not know it and only 11.6 percent of adults with prediabetes knew they had the condition.
Rates of diabetes diagnoses increased with age, according to the CDC. Adults age 18 to 44, 4 percent had diabetes and in adults age 45 to 64, 17 percent had diabetes. In adults age 65 and older, 25 percent had diabetes.
The report also showed diabetes prevalence varied by education with 12.6 percent of diabetes cases in adults with less than a high school education. In adults with a high school education, 9.5 percent had diabetes and 7.2 percent had diabetes in adults with more than a high school education.
"Consistent with previous trends, our research shows that diabetes cases are still increasing, although not as quickly as in previous years," Ann Albright, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, said. "Diabetes is a contributing factor to so many other serious health conditions. By addressing diabetes, we limit other health problems such as heart disease, stroke, nerve and kidney diseases, and vision loss."
