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JEFFERSON COUNTY | 2013 COMMUNITY HEALTH ASSESSMENT
Diabetes (diabetes mellitus) is a chronic disease that occurs when blood glucose (sugar) levels are too high.204 High blood glucose occurs when the pancreas does not create enough insulin or when the body cannot use the insulin that it creates.205
IMPACT
COST
Diabetes is the 8th leading cause of death in Jefferson County, accounting for over two percent of all deaths in 2011. In 2009, five percent of Jefferson County residents reported having been told that they have diabetes. Nationally, around 27 percent of those with diabetes do not know they have it, so the estimate of those in the county with diabetes is likely low.206
The financial costs of diabetes are high for families as well as for our country, state, and county. Medical treatment, also known as “direct costs,” is one part of the cost equation. In addition, there are many “indirect costs,” such as lost productivity and missed days of work. The graphic below shows total diabetes costs for the US, Colorado, and Jefferson County.207
AGE-ADJUSTED RATE PER 100,000 POPULATION
DIABETES DEATHS, JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO, AND THE UNITED STATES, 2001-2011 DIABETES deaths, Jefferson county, Colorado & united states, 2001-2011 JEFFERSON COUNTY¹
COLORADO¹
UNITED STATES²*
30 25
US (2007): $174 billion
20
CO (2010): $2.18 billion JeffCo (2010): $230 million
15
NATIONALLY, ABOUT 27% of those with diabetes do not know they have it.
10 5 0
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
YEAR
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: ¹Vital Sta/s/cs, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, ² Na/onal Vital Sta/s/cs Report, Na/onal Center for Health Sta/s/cs *2011 U.S. data is prelimiary