Diabetes Management: New Technologies, New Markets

Originally Published MX September/October 2001

MARKET ANALYSIS

Noninvasive and continuous blood-glucose monitoring and alternative insulin-delivery systems are simplifying diabetes control.

Tracy A. Schaaf

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA; Alexandria, VA), diabetes, a disorder in which the body does not produce or properly use the hormone insulin—which is needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy—affects 16 million Americans. Five million of them don't know they have it. An additional 20–30 million Americans have impaired glucose tolerance, a potentially prediabetic condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Atlanta) pronounces diabetes to be the sixth-leading cause of death by disease in the United States (see sidebar).

Diabetes is estimated to cost the country $44 billion annually in direct medical costs and $54 billion in productivity losses attributable to lost workdays, disability, and premature death. Effective management of glucose levels in sufferers is paramount in controlling the condition.