US T2D rates appear to be slowing.

The Wall Street Journal (9/24, A3, McKay, Subscription Publication) reports that, according to a study published Sept. 24 in the Journal of the American Medical Association and conducted by researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US type 2 diabetes (T2D) rates appear to be plateauing. For the study, researchers analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey covering some 655,000 adult patients.

        USA Today (9/24, Painter) reports the study found that “8.3% of adults had been diagnosed with diabetes as of 2012.” However, “the rates at which new cases are accumulating and overall counts are climbing have slowed in recent years.” Study co-author Ann Albright, director of the CDC’s division of diabetes translation, said, “It gives us hope,” adding, “It’s important that we begin to slow down this runaway train.”

        The Los Angeles Times (9/24, Healy) reports that the CDC researchers “said the plateau may be a downstream effect of another positive trend: a stabilization of obesity rates in the U.S. first seen in 2003 and 2004.” But, diabetes “continues to spread among African Americans and Latinos,” and “among Americans ages 20 to 44 and those with a high school education or less.”

        Bloomberg News (9/24, Pettypiece) points out that in 2010, the CDC “estimated that one in three adult Americans would have diabetes by 2050 as the population ages and there are more minorities at high risk for the disease.” Now, “the slowdown in new cases may mean the epidemic can be avoided, said...Albright.” Also covering the story are Reuters (9/24, Seaman), TIME (9/24, Oaklander), HealthDay (9/24, Thompson) and Medscape (9/24, Tucker).