According to the CDC, Diabetes as a leading cause of death first appeared in the top 10 list in 1932 as #10. The leading cause of death is simply the main reason that is selected on a death certificate. On November 14th, World Diabetes Day (WDD), I noticed this statistic on the WDD website, which got me thinking. They stated that Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of deaths in the United States each year. Since first debuting on the top 10 list back in 1932, Diabetes has moved up to the number 6 slot.
"Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death listed on U.S. death certificates in 2006. This ranking is based on the 72,507 death certificates in 2006 in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death. According to death certificate reports, diabetes contributed to a total of 233,619 deaths in 2005, the latest year for which data on contributing causes of death are available." [source]
"Diabetes is the 6th leading cause of deaths in the United States." [source]
What is confusing to me is the definition of diabetes as a leading cause of death. I could understand that someone with a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic episode could fall into the diabetes as a cause of death category. Besides those two categories, I always thought that someone with diabetes dies from a complication of diabetes. For example, inconsistent blood sugar levels over time can lead to heart disease. If someone dies from heart disease and has diabetes, are they automatically classified in the diabetes – cause of death category or heart disease?
I ask these questions because I think we could be over/under stating the diabetes category. Using the example from above, if someone dies from heart disease and has diabetes, who knows if they would have had heart disease if they didn’t have diabetes. Some say it’s just semantics, but I disagree. Is the cause of death subjective to the doctor’s opinion?
Can anyone shed some light on this cheerful subject?
Sorry, I can’t shed any light on that. But I those numbers are scary!