Diabetes costs the United States $218 Billion annually according to a new study released today. The astronomical, bailout scale, figure includes medical care costs, insulin, amputations, hospitalization, and indirect costs like lost productivity, disability payments and early retirement. The costs to the American economy amount to an astounding 10% of all health care costs in the country.

What makes these already frightening numbers even scarier is that the total number of people suffering from diabetes in the United States has nearly doubled in the past decade, from 5 in 1000 ten years ago to 9 in 1000 today, and continues to grow. Plus diabetes disproportionately affects the least fortunate in our society, where access to healthy foods in poorer ares much more difficult to come by and harmful fast food joints are ubiquitous. Tragically these businesses who trumpet their low prices necessitate a much greater cost to the health of the nation in the long run.

You can takepart in helping to curb the costly deadly disease diabetes by checking out the American Diabetes Association.

LINKS:

CNN: US diabetes rate nearly doubles in a decade

AP: Study puts a total on diabetes costs: $218 Billion

CNBC: Novo Nordisk “Raises” price on treating diabetes