The number of people with diabetes is on the rise. Now, scientists have shown that the number of adults with the condition worldwide has quadrupled from 108 million to 422 million from 1980 to 2014.
In this latest study, researchers looked at data from 751 studies. This resulted in data from 4.4 million adults in different areas of the world. With this data, the researchers estimated age-adjusted diabetes prevalence for 200 countries. This means that the scientists adjusted the results to account for diabetes becoming more common as a person ages.
"Diabetes has become a defining issue for global public health," said Majid Ezzati, senior author of the new study. "An aging population, and rising levels of obesity, mean that the number of people with diabetes has increased dramatically over the past 35 years. Rates of diabetes are rising quickly in China, India and many other low and middle income countries, and if current trends continue, the probability of meeting the 2025 U.N. global target is virtually nonexistent."
So what did they find specifically? It turns out that between 1980 and 2014, diabetes has become more common among men than women. In addition, researchers found an increase in overall rates of diabetes in many countries in Western Europe. However, age-related rates were stable, which seems to indicate that the increase was largely due to an aging population. That's in stark contrast to many low income countries, where it's likely that age didn't play as much as a role; in particular, this occurred in China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Mexico.
"The prevalence estimates provided by the NCD-Risk Factor Collaboration sound the alarm for large-scale, effective action to reduce the health and economic impact of diabetes," wrote Etienne Krug, one of the researchers, while commenting on the study. "Improvements in prevention and management, together with better surveillance, should be prioritized in response to this call."
The findings reveal a bit more about the trend of diabetes worldwide. This is especially important to note when developing prevention and management strategies in order to prevent the spread of diabetes. It also shows in which countries diabetes is on the rise.
The findings were published in the April edition of the journal The Lancet.
