Chars Life and Times

One of the world’s most common diseases, diabetes, could cost the United States over $218 billion. The first comprehensive estimate of the financial toll diabetes takes was released Tuesday, November 28, 2008. This study was paid for by Novo Nordisk A/S which is a Danish pharmaceutical company. 

That figure includes direct medical care costs, from pills and insulin for keeping a patient’s blood sugar under control to hospitalization and amputation costs. It also includes indirect expenses such as disability, early retirement and lost productivity. 

From what I read, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise each year along with obesity. Since I have diabetes type 2 myself, along with my husband, I can see the increase of the prices in medicine and blood glucose testing tools. I can just imagine how that increases with the more people that get diagnosed with diabetes every year. 

I was diagnosed with diabetes quite by accident about 3 years ago by an annual exam and blood work. My husband was diagnosed, again by accident, when he had a bump on his back that wouldn’t heal. If people were tested for this dangerous disease earlier, it might be able to be kept under control earlier, therefore saving money in the long run.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS