As the number of overweight and obese people is on the rise in the U.S., it is no surprise that there are nearly 24 million people having diabetes, an increase of more than 3 million in two years, the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on data from 2007, show. A quarter of people ages 60 and older had diabetes in 2007, the CDC found.

There are also almost 6 million who are unaware they are diabetic. The good news is that the percentage of people in this situation fell from 30 percent to 25 percent, according to the report.

And there are at least 57 million people having prediabetes, a condition that puts people at greater risk of the disease.

These figures mean that nearly 8 percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, mostly the type-2 diabetes.

The report showed that the rate of diagnosed diabetes was highest among American Indians and Alaska Natives (16.5 percent). They were followed by blacks (11.8 percent) and Hispanics (10.4 percent), including Puerto Ricans (12.6 percent), Mexican Americans (11.9 percent) and Cubans (8.2 percent).

On the other hand, the rate for Asian Americans was a little lower at 7.5 percent and at 6.6 percent for whites.

Dr. Ann Albright, director of the CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation said “these data are a reminder of the importance of increasing awareness of this condition, especially among people who are at high risk,” she was quoted as saying by the Associate Press.

On the other hand, she said it is good to see that more people become aware they have diabetes. “That is an indication that our efforts to increase awareness are working, and more importantly, that more people are better prepared to manage this disease and its complications.”

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone that is needed to change sugar, starches and other food into the energy needed for daily life.

Diabetes risk factors include being overweight, sedentary, persons with a family history of diabetes and women who have babies with a birth weight of greater than nine pounds.

Type 2 diabetes can further lead to serious complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, blindness, or nerve damage that can lead to amputations. The disease is the fifth leading cause of death in the US.

People can live with diabetes for years before they know they have it as the disease doesn’t have visible symptoms from the beginning. That’s the reason why, people see a physician only when significant damage is done to their eyesight, heart or kidneys.

Visible symptoms are frequent urination, blurred vision and excessive thirst, but people with type 2 diabetes do not show these clear warning signs at the time they develop the disease. That’s why some people are not diagnosed with the disease until 7 to 10 years after onset, the American Diabetes Association warns.

The ADA estimates there will be nearly 50.2 million people with diabetes by 2025, especially that obesity epidemic continues to spread. Worldwide, the number of people with diabetes will double to 366 million by 2030, according to estimates of the World Health Organization, which calls the disease an epidemic.

Discovering diabetes in its early stages means better treatments, better chances of living longer with it and of course better rates of survival.