What is Diabetes?

Type 1 Diabetes

With type 1 Diabetes, your body does not make insulin. Your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Type 1 Diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age. People with type 1 Diabetes need to take insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 2 Diabetes

With type 2 Diabetes, your body does not make or use insulin well. You can develop type 2 Diabetes at any age, even during childhood. However, this type of Diabetes occurs most often in middle-aged and older people. Type 2 is the most common type of Diabetes.

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The Effect of Diabetes

  • 1 in 3 Canadians has Diabetes or Prediabetes
  • More than ½ of Canadians who are 20 years old today will develop Diabetes in their lifetime
  • The risk for Indigenous Canadians is 80% (Indigenous Canadians make up 4.3% of the total Canadian population)
  • Life expectancy of a person with Diabetes is shortened by an average of 13 years.
  • Every 6 seconds, one person in the world dies from diabetes and its related complications
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Every year people living with Diabetes account for

30%

of strokes

40%

of heart attacks

50%

of kidney failures requiring dialysis

70%

of non-traumatic amputations

The Cost of Diabetes

Cost to Canada’s Health Care System

2000 - $6.3 billion

2010 - $12.2 billion

2020 - estimated $27 billion

Employer costs for Employees Living with Diabetes

An average of $1,500.00 per year lost in productivity as well as an average of $1,500.00 per year in extra benefit plan costs.

World Wide Costs

$1.3 trillion spent on controlling diabetes worldwide each year

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