Diabetes An Illness People Can't Afford to Get

Diabetes treatment is unaffordable for many sufferers and only 25 percent get the care the care they need, experts say.

Their research relates to people with Type 2 Diabetes – the most common form of the illness.

Diabetes patients spend an average of $6,000 annually on treatment, according to a recent report put out by Consumer Reports Health.

The figure includes monitoring supplies, medicines, doctor visits, annual eye exams and other routine costs.

But the total doesn’t include the costs of medical complications that often result from Type 2 diabetes, like heart disease, strokes, liver and kidney damage, eye damage and a susceptibility to infections and poor healing that can lead to amputations, the New York Times reports.

Another worrying figure pertains to the statistic that one in 10 Americans has diabetes and by 2050, it will rise to one in three – if the present trends continue.

It currently costs the country’s health care system $174 billion a year.

Read More: http://www.thirdage.com/news/diabetes-illness-people-cant-afford-get_11-13-2010