
Type 2 diabetes: What is the average age of onset?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29.1 million people in the United States have diabetes.
The variations between individual diagnoses are too great for there to be an exact age of onset for type 2 diabetes. There is evidence, however, that the likelihood of developing the condition increases drastically after the age of 45.
Average age of onset for type 2 diabetes
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommend annual diabetes screening tests after the age of 45. But the age at which someone develops the condition depends on too many differing factors to accurately predict.
A wide mix of individual health and lifestyle factors can influence the progression of the condition. Many people have diabetes for years before being diagnosed, causing a large variation between the age of onset and age of diagnosis.
Meanwhile, some estimates claim that nearly one-third of those with diabetes do not know they have it, which further complicates estimates. And many national surveys and studies do not distinguish between rates of type 1 and 2 diabetes in adults.
According to the CDC, from 1997 through to 2011, the average age at which a person was diagnosed with diabetes in the United States was largely the same, at around 54 years of age.
While there might not be a set age for onset for type 2 diabetes, age greatly increases the chances of developing the condition.
In 2014, an estimated 4.3 percent of Americans over 20 years of age had diabetes, while 13.4 percent of those aged 45-64, and 11.2 percent of those aged 65 or older, had the condition.
A 2016
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