It is the most common form of the disease. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95 percent of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is nearing epidemic proportions, due to an increased number of older Americans, and a greater prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyles. Gestational diabetes develops in 2-5 percent of all pregnancies but disappears when a pregnancy is over. Women who have had gestational diabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.
National studies show that only half of the people who have diabetes know it.
It is the seventh leading cause of death in the country and the sixth leading cause of death in Natrona County. Diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness. Fifty percent of all type-2 diabetics have cardiovascular disease at the time of diagnosis. Approximately 25 to 30 percent of the bypass patients at Wyoming Medical Center have diabetes. In Natrona County, over 50 percent of dialysis patients have diabetes.