The things that people really fear aren't all that likely to happen to them - unlike diabetes, which affects nearly 24 million people.

According to a new survey by the American Diabetes Association, more people reported fear of being in a plane crash, hit by lightning, attacked by a shark, or bitten by a snake, than a fear of developing diabetes.

“Unfortunately, people don’t seem to take diabetes seriously and they don’t seem to realize that diabetes – if left untreated or poorly treated – can be a very scary disease,” said Ann Albright, PhD, RD, President, Health Care & Education, American Diabetes Association.

“We don’t like to unnecessarily scare people, but the findings from this survey are alarming because diabetes is more deadly than these other fears and Americans are more likely to have a personal experience with diabetes than shark attacks or snake bites.”

In August, 2008, the American Diabetes Association conducted an online survey to find out what people really fear most.

The survey findings showed that, among a short list of rare occurrences, 16% of respondents feared being in a plane crash, 13% feared snake bites, 5% feared being hit by lightning and 4% feared a shark attack, while only 5% reported a fear of getting an illness/disease.

Additionally, when asked specifically about diseases, 49% reported fear of cancer, and only 3% cited a fear of diabetes.

Ironically, one in ten adults reports having been diagnosed with diabetes, while fewer (6%) have been diagnosed with cancer.

Further, cancer and diabetes have similar rates of expected new cases each year, suggesting that levels of fear around diabetes are low.

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While half of adults fear cancer and many fewer fear diabetes, statistics show that in each case over 1 million new cases will be diagnosed annually.

Of course, cancer can be a deadly disease, and people are wise to be concerned, and hopefully diligent, about lifestyle behaviors and screening interventions that can enhance prevention and treatment.

But accidents and animal attacks don’t compare to diabetes. While the impact of a shark attack, lightning strike or plane crash may be more immediate, the reality is, the consequences of mismanaged diabetes can have equally severe consequences that include loss of limbs or even death.

In fact, 491 deaths related to commercial aviation accidents happened in 2007 whereas diabetes contributed to 233,619 deaths in 2005.

More importantly, while people don’t have much control when it comes to plane crashes, snake bites, shark attacks or being hit by lightening, the good news is that people with diabetes can play an important role in managing and controlling their disease to prevent the onset of serious diabetes-related complications such as heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and blindness.

Diabetes is growing at an alarming rate with nearly 24 million children and adults living with this disease and another 57 million Americans at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Since 1987, death rates due to diabetes have continued to rise, while the death rates due to heart disease, stroke and cancer have declined.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if present trends continue, 1 in 3 children born today will develop diabetes in their lifetime. 

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