Diabetes is a growing serious health problem globally, its risk is increasing year after year. If you too have been considering it a disease that occurs with aging, then you need to think again. Health experts say that even younger people are falling prey to it. This disease is dangerous for everyone from children to the elderly. Therefore, everyone needs to know about diabetes and keep making continuous efforts to prevent it.
This danger is also increasing rapidly in the Indian population. Regarding this, a study published in The Lancet states that more than 828 million (82.8 crores) adults worldwide have diabetes. In the last 30 years, the number of diabetics has doubled to more than 800 million. The World Health Organization (WHO) had previously estimated that about 422 million people may have diabetes. Even more worrying is that more than half of the people aged 30 and above who are suffering from diabetes are not getting treatment.
World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on 14 November to make people aware of this serious and chronic disease growing globally, and educating people about its prevention.
Patients increased more than expected.
Health experts have advised all people to continue taking precautions regarding this growing serious problem. A global analysis published in The Lancet found that the rate of diabetes in adults has doubled from about 7% to about 14% now between 1990 and 2022. Diabetes cases have increased the most in low and middle-income countries.
A team of scientists in collaboration with the World Health Organization has obtained these results by analyzing data from more than 140 million people aged 18 years or older and more than 1,000 studies conducted in different countries.
India has more patients than China and America.
In this study, experts have also highlighted the growing health inequalities. More than half of the diabetes cases worldwide have been reported in four countries. In the year 2022, more than a quarter of the people suffering from diabetes (212 million i.e. about 21.2 crores) were in India. At the same time, there were 14.8 crores of diabetes patients in China, 4.2 crores in America, and 3.6 crores in Pakistan. 2.5 crores and 2.2 crore people have been found to be suffering from diabetes in Indonesia and Brazil respectively.
Health experts said, in the year 2022, about 60% of the people suffering from diabetes were in only six countries.
What do experts say?
Dr. Ranjit Mohan Anjana, President of Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and one of the authors of the study, said, that given the increasing cases of diabetes and its fatal consequences, all people should keep trying to control it through a healthy diet and exercise.
Our findings emphasize the need to restrict unhealthy foods and promote healthy food habits, especially in low-income areas of the world.
Diabetes prevention is important.
Majid Ezzati, a health expert at Imperial College London and one of the authors of the study, says, this is particularly worrying because people suffering from diabetes in low-income countries are usually younger. In the absence of effective treatment, such people remain at risk of many health-related complications throughout their lives. This condition can also cause heart disease, kidney damage, vision loss, and serious conditions and amputation of legs or other limbs.
Due to all this, additional pressure is also increasing in the health sector, so it is important for everyone to know about the management and prevention of diabetes and keep taking preventive measures.
(PC: Freepik)
