DIABETES ATLAS

Diabetes continues to spread around the world

On World Diabetes Day, news about the disease's global 

impact is dire.

An estimated 382 million people worldwide have diabetes, 

according to a new report from the International Diabetes 

Federation. The IDF expects that number to rise to 592 

million by 2035, when one in every 10 people will have the 

disease.

"Diabetes in all its forms imposes unacceptably high human,

 social and economic costs on countries at all income 

levels," the report authors begin in the executive summary. 

They go on to say that this latest edition of the Diabetes 

Atlas 

"carries a bitter but unavoidable message: despite the array 

of tools at our disposal to tackle the disease... the battle to 

protect people from diabetes and its disabling, life-

threatening complications is being lost."

Epidemiologist Leonor Guariguata, project coordinator for 

IDF's Diabetes Atlas, wasn't surprised by the report's 

findings. In fact, she says the estimates are conservative, 

and that diabetes may be a much bigger problem than we 

think.

"The thing that strikes me is that we keep saying the same 

thing again," she said. "Every time we produce new 

estimates, they are above and beyond what we had 

projected from past estimates."

There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and 

gestational diabetes.

People who have Type 1 diabetes do not produce insulin, a 

hormone the body needs to convert sugar and starches into 

energy. Type 1 diabetes used to be called juvenile onset 

diabetes because it is usually diagnosed in adolescence. 

Around 5% of the diabetic population in the United States 

has Type 1 diabetes.

Cells offer hope for Type 1 diabetics

People with Type 2 diabetes have developed a resistance to 

the insulin their body produces. Most people who develop 

Type 2 diabetes are adults, although experts worry about the 

increasing number of young people being diagnosed.

Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and can 

increase both the mother and baby's chances of developing 

Type 2 diabetes later in life.

According to the IDF report, China, India and the United 

States top the list for the most cases of diabetes per country; 

around 24.4 million Americans had the disease in 2013.  But 

islands in the Pacific have the most alarming rates of 

prevalence, or the number of cases compared to the 

country's population overall.

For example, 37.5% of the population of Tokelau, located 

northeast of Fiji, has diabetes. Micronesia, Saudi Arabia, 

Kuwait and Qatar also reported higher-than-average 

prevalence rates. A large part of this is due to the growing 

obesity 

problem; while all types of diabetes are on the rise, the 

number of people with Type 2 diabetes is expected to 

double in 

less than 25 years.

"We started seeing big increases in prevalence in those 

islands maybe 20, 30 years ago," Guariguata said. "That 

coincides with rapid development." The discovery of natural 

resources on the islands, she explained, led to an influx of 

money in the population. People started eating more 

imported foods and moving less.

But diabetes is no longer considered just a rich man's 

disease, Guariguata said. Approximately 80% of the people 

living 

with diabetes are in low- and middle-income countries.

The Middle East and North Africa currently have the highest 

rates of adult diabetes prevalence compared to other world 

regions, according to the report, but Africa will see the 

greatest increase in cases over the next two decades. Urban 

centers in Africa are showing higher prevalence rates than 

cities in Europe, Guariguata said, and many cases go 

undiagnosed and untreated because of a lack of awareness 

in these countries.

In addition to those that already have diabetes, IDF 

estimates 316 million people have IGT, or impaired glucose 

tolerance - also known as prediabetes. These are people at 

a high risk of developing the disease.

"There is no country that has solved the problem for 

diabetes and no country has gotten it right," Guariguata 

said. "The 

good news for all of this is diabetes is imminently treatable, 

with cheap generic drugs that are available and (with) 

lifestyle change. We're not looking at a disease that we have 

absolutely no response for."

Here are some other significant statistics from the IDF report:

 An estimated 5.1 million people died of diabetes-related 

complications in 2013

– 17% of babies in 2013 were born to women with high blood 

sugar levels, a sign of gestational diabetes, which 

Guariguata says will contribute to the global diabetes 

burden in years to come

– More than 79,000 children developed Type 1 diabetes in 

2013; that's up from 77,800 in 2011

– The equivalent of $548 billion was spent on health care for 

diabetes patients around the world in 2013

Post by: Jacque Wilson -- CNN.com Health 

writer/producer 

Filed under: Conditions • Diabetes