Diabetes kills 100 000 Americans for second year in a row

Diabetes is killing an increasing number of Americans and has accounted for more than 100 000 US deaths in each of the past two years. A national commission has called on the federal government to take a broad approach to the problem, similar to the fight against AIDS.

Lisa Murdock of the American Diabetes Association told The BMJ that diabetes was the most common underlying condition in the US and that covid-19 was an exacerbating factor. Some 40% of Americans who died from covid-19 had diabetes, she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 37.3 million Americans—11.3% of the US population—have diabetes, including 8.3 million who have not had it diagnosed. Another 96 million people aged 18 or over have prediabetes, including 26.4 million of those over 65. The …