The Burden of Diabetes in Wyoming

Diabetes is an epidemic in the United States, according to Diabetes.org. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that over 34 million Americans have diabetes and face its devastating consequences. What’s true nationwide is also true in Wyoming.

Wyoming’s diabetes epidemic

Approximately 38,658 people in Wyoming, or 8.7% of the adult population, have diagnosed diabetes. An additional 12,000 people in Wyoming have diabetes but don’t know it, greatly increasing their health risk. There are 148,000 people in Wyoming, 33.6% of the adult population, who have prediabetes with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Every year an estimated 3,980 people in Wyoming are diagnosed with diabetes.

Diabetes is expensive

People with diabetes have medical expenses approximately 2.3 times higher than those who do not have diabetes. Total direct medical expenses for diagnosed diabetes in Wyoming were estimated at $311 million in 2017. In addition, another $113 million was spent on indirect costs from lost productivity due to diabetes.

Improving lives, preventing diabetes and finding a cure

In 2021, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health invested no money in diabetes related research projects in Wyoming, however $1,001,030 was invested in 2020. The Division of Diabetes Translation at the CDC provided $599,587 in diabetes prevention and educational grants in Wyoming in 2018.

Family Clinic in Hulett

Our Family Clinic in Hulett provides continuing and comprehensive health care for individuals and families, including the prevention, detection and treatment of diabetes. Family Medicine or Primary Care providers serve all people of all ages. Our team helps patients establish a medical home to monitor their health and manage chronic illnesses and conditions In addition to full primary care services, we also provide women’s health services. Call 307-688-2235 today to book an appointment.

Source: https://diabetes.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/ADV_2021_State_Fact_sheets_Wyoming_revpdf.pdf

Sources include:

Diabetes Prevalence: 2018 state diagnosed diabetes prevalence, cdc.gov/diabetes/data; 2017 state undiagnosed diabetes prevalence, Dall et al., “The Economic Burden of Elevated Blood Glucose Levels in 2017”, Diabetes Care, September 2019, vol. 42.

Diabetes Incidence: 2018 diabetes incidence rate, cdc.gov/diabetes/data

Cost: American Diabetes Association, “Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017”, Diabetes Care, May 2018.

Research expenditures: 2021 NIDDK funding, report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm; 2020 CDC diabetes funding, fundingprofiles.cdc.gov/FundingProfiles/FundingQuery