Scientists say increase from 1990 to 2022 was largest in low- and middle-income countries and lack of treatment ‘concerning’
The number of people with diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide, according to a groundbreaking international study.
Global analysis published in the Lancet found that rates of diabetes in adults doubled from about 7% to about 14% between 1990 to 2022, with the largest increase in low and middle-income countries.
The study is the first global analysis of diabetes rates and treatment in all countries. Scientists at NCD-RisC in collaboration with the World Health Organization used data from more than 140 million people aged 18 or older from more than 1,000 studies in different countries. They applied statistical tools to enable accurate comparisons of prevalence and treatment between countries and regions.
Diabetes is a chronic disease caused when the pancreas does not produce enough (or any) insulin or the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, which over time can cause serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder which stops the body using insulin properly. More than 95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 1, type 2 diabetes can be prevented. Being overweight, eating unhealthily and not exercising enough, as well as genetic factors, can increase the risk of developing diabetes.
The study highlighted growing health inequalities. More than half of global diabetes cases were concentrated in four countries. Of those with diabetes in 2022, more than a quarter (212 million) lived in India, 148 million were in China, 42 million were in the US and 36 million in Pakistan. Indonesia and Brazil accounted for a further 25 million and 22 million cases, respectively.
In some countries in the Pacific islands, Caribbean, Middle East and north Africa, more than 25% of the female and male population have diabetes, the study found, while the US (12.5%) and the UK (8.8%) had the highest diabetes rates among high-income western countries.
In contrast, diabetes rates in 2022 were as low as 2-4% for women in France, Denmark, Spain, Switzerland and Sweden, and 3-5% for men in Denmark, France, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Spain and Rwanda.
Increases in obesity, alongside an ageing global population means growing numbers of people are at greater risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/13/diabetes-rates-increase-world-study
