Almost half a billion people around the world now have diabetes, but most of them don’t know, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that the number of people suffering from diabetes worldwide has more than quadrupled since 1980, when around 108 million people were living with the disease.
They also found that the disease is no longer reserved for wealthier countries with access to abundant, unhealthy food – 80 percent of diabetics now live in low- and middle-income countries.
The study, which was published in the medical journal The Lancet, offers no theory as to why diabetes cases are skyrocketing or why poorer countries have been hit so hard.
But health experts have previously accused a combination of widespread movement of people from the countryside to urban living, unhealthy diets and a sedentary lifestyle.
Almost half a billion people worldwide have diabetes, according to a new study (file photo)
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce insulin, and type 2 diabetes occurs when the body has problems producing insulin
The University of Michigan team came up with their forecast after surveying 68,000 people between the ages of 25 and 64 in 55 of these low- and middle-income countries.
That research found and found that more than half – 37,000 – had diabetes, but more than half of those people had never been diagnosed with diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes, occurs when the body cannot produce insulin.
Type 2 diabetes, which tends to come on later in life, occurs when the body has problems producing insulin.
Almost 90 percent of respondents in the study, published Friday in the Lancet Healthy Longevity Journal, had type 2 diabetes, which can be due to an unhealthy lifestyle.
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The study also found that poorer countries are more likely to have diabetes – but those who live there are much less likely to have access to treatment.
Smaller islands in the South Pacific were particularly badly affected by diabetes, and there were few treatment options for those locally affected.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are currently more than 34 million Americans living with diabetes, including celebrities like Nick Jonas (with type 1 diabetes), Tom Hanks, and Patti LaBelle (with type 2 diabetes). About 90 percent of diabetics in the United States have type 2.
However, the study shows that only one in ten people with diabetes worldwide received the care they needed to live with the disease.
It can triple the risk of a heart attack and increase the chance of a leg amputation 20 times. Diabetes can also lead to stroke, kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, and complications during pregnancy.
Less than half of the patients surveyed with the condition are taking drugs to lower blood sugar or blood pressure, and less than a third have access to advice on diet and exercise.
Of those who knew about their condition, 85 percent were taking medications to lower their blood sugar and 57 percent were taking medications for blood pressure. But only 9 percent took something for their cholesterol.
The researchers surveyed 68,000 people between the ages of 25 and 64 in 55 of these low- and middle-income countries and found that more than half – 37,000 – had diabetes
Only one in ten people with diabetes worldwide received the care they needed to live with the disease, the study found
Taken together, the University of Michigan reported, it means less than one in five people with diabetes received the care they need.
Women, wealthier people, the elderly, and the obese were more likely to be treated well around the world, the researchers found, but diabetes in people of normal weight is not uncommon in low- and middle-income countries.
Now lead author David Flood of the University of Michigan is calling for more focus on these people.
“The fact that diabetes-related drugs are available at very low cost and that individuals can reduce their risk by making lifestyle changes means that cost shouldn’t be a major barrier,” he said.
“In fact, studies have shown that the drugs are inexpensive, meaning that the cost of using them early and consistently is outweighed by the savings in other types of subsequent care.”
