Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, costs nearing $175 billion yearly

Federal health officials have released new figures discussing the increasing number of Americans with type 2 diabetes. Released today, officials explained more than 25 million Americans have type 2 diabetes.

On top of the nearly 26 million Americans with diabetes, nearly 80 million more have symptoms that could lead to diabetes. While blood sugar needs to be at a certain level to be classified as having diabetes, there is a range that classifies individuals as having higher risks of developing diabetes. The figures were released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In less than three years, more than 2 million Americans have gotten diabetes and nearly 25 million Americans went from having normal blood sugar levels to being pre-diabetic.

Prevention and delay of type 2 diabetes includes eating a healthy diet and performing regular and consistent exercise.

Experts estimate that 7 million Americans are completely unaware of having diabetes as well.

Common causes of diabetes include obesity, lack of exercise, and poor diet choices.

As one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, diabetes increases risks of heart disease, stroke, having high blood pressure, blindness, and heart attacks.

The CDC explains diabetes costs are near $175 billion each year.