Diabetes Threat Increasing on U.S.–Mexico Border

Diabetes has now reached epidemic proportions along the U.S.–Mexico border, experts said in presenting the results of a new study coordinated by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

Diabetes is the leading cause of death nationwide in Mexico and is now the third-leading cause of death on the U.S. side of the border area, PAHO experts said at a Community Forum in El Paso, Texas, where the study was presented in late October.

Together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Mexico's Secretariat of Health, PAHO's U.S.–Mexico Border Field Office cosponsored the study. It analyzed data from 16 U.S. counties and 28 Mexican municipalities along the border. The data collection was carried out between 2000 and 2002.

The study found that nearly 15 percent of adults—about 1.1 million people—in the border region suffer from type 2 diabetes, and 836,000 others have prediabetes, or higher than normal blood glucose levels. More than a fifth of border area residents who have the disease do not know it.

In the United States as a whole, diabetes accounts for about 11 percent of all health-care expenditures, said Rosalba Ruiz, coordinator of the PAHO Diabetes Project. "There is a very serious concern that in a short period of time, the health systems of both countries will be overwhelmed by the healthcare demands of those who have this disease," she said.

The study also found that six out of 10 border residents with type 2 diabetes do not monitor their blood sugar levels.

"Poor disease management and control produce higher rates of complications from diabetes, leading to lowered quality of life, physical disability, and earlier mortality," said Agustín Lara, director of the Elderly Health Program of Mexico's Secretariat of Health.

Overweight and obesity, along with age and family history, are among the leading risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Experts at the forum said primary prevention measures include reduced fat and calorie intake and increased physical activity.

Last May, some 60 public health officials discussed how to respond to the growing epidemic of type 2 diabetes on the border during a U.S.–Mexico Diabetes Forum in Padre Island, Texas, held as part of the annual meeting of the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Association.

Alberto Barceló, PAHO regional advisor on noncommunicable diseases, noted in a presentation to the meeting that in Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole, the number of diabetes sufferers is expected to grow from 13 million in 2000 to nearly 33 million by 2030. The PAHO region currently spends an estimated $65 billion on diabetes treatment every year.

For more information visit the United States - Mexico Border Field Office web page.