Title: Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980
Headings: Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980
News > Medscape Medical News
Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980

Content: Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980
News > Medscape Medical News
Type 2 Diabetes Rates Quadruple Worldwide Since 1980
Veronica Hackethal, MD
April 07, 2016
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The number of adults with diabetes has reached almost 450 million worldwide, and low- and middle-income countries have experienced the fastest increases, according to new calculations released to coincide with the WHO's World Health Day on April 7, for which the theme this year is "Beat Diabetes." " [Since 1980, age-standardized diabetes prevalence] more than doubled in men and increased by 60% in women worldwide….This rise in prevalence has been compounded by population growth and aging, nearly quadrupling the number of adults with diabetes over these 35 years," write Majid Ezzati, PhD, from Imperial College London, United Kingdom, and colleagues, all with the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), in their paper published online April 6 in the Lancet. The research did not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but most cases (85%–95%) of adult diabetes are type 2, so the observed rise is likely to be due to increases in type 2 diabetes, say the scientists. And this is inextricably linked to the staggering rise in obesity worldwide, featured most recently in another Lancet publication last weekend, also by NCD-RisC with Dr Ezzati as corresponding author, indicating that obesity is now more common than underweight worldwide, as reported by Medscape Medical News. Almost One in 10 Men Has Diabetes
Projected percentage of diabetes in men by 2025. Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration [to view a larger image, click here]
The new study provides the most complete estimate of worldwide adult diabetes prevalence to date, and in conjunction, the WHO has also issued its first " Global Report on Diabetes ," detailing the magnitude of the problem, the causes, and current responses to it. More men now have diabetes then women, representing a shift from 1980, when it was the other way around. The highest prevalences of diabetes are currently found in Oceania, the Middle East, and North Africa. In these regions, diabetes prevalence is now five to 10 times higher than in Western and Northern Europe, which have the lowest prevalence rates.