• There are two basic forms of diabetes: type 1 which requires insulin for survival and is most frequently developed by children and adolescents. Approximately 10% of diabetes diagnosed is type 1. And type 2, which requires insulin for metabolic control, occurs primarily in adults and is the most common, accounting for 90% of all diabetes diagnosed.
  
  
• There are more than 151 million people with diabetes worldwide. This figure is projected to rise to 300 million by 2025, largely due to population growth, aging and urbanization. Nearly 17 million Americans have diabetes and 90-95% of these have type 2 diabetes.
  
  
• At least 50% of all people with diabetes are unaware of their condition. In some countries this figure may be as high as 80%.
  
  
• Diabetes is a silent killer - many people first become aware that they have diabetes only after they've developed one of its life-threatening complications.
  
  
• Diabetic complications, such as blindness, kidney failure and heart disease impose a huge burden on healthcare services. It is estimated that diabetes accounts for between 5-10% of a nation's health budget. In the United States, $45 billion dollars are spent each year on direct health care costs of diabetes.
  
  
• African Americans are 1.7 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes than the general population. An estimated 2.3 million African Americans, or 10.8%, have diabetes.
  
  
• Hispanic Americans are almost twice as likely to have type 2 diabetes. In the Mexican-American population, diabetes affects 1.2 million or 10.6 % of the population.
  
  
• Type 1 diabetes tends to run in families. Brothers and sisters of children with type 1 diabetes have about a 10 percent chance of developing the disease by age 50.
  
  
• Type 2 diabetes often develops after the age of 45, but many people are not aware they have diabetes until severe symptoms or complications occur.
  
  
• The risk of type 2 diabetes increases with age - almost half of the population of the United States population between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.

Sources: American Diabetes Association, International Diabetes Federation