China, India and USA are among the top three countries with a high diabetic population. According to the recent Lancet study, the numbers climbed from 20.4 million in China in 1980 to 102.9 million in 2014 and in India from 11.9 million in 1980 to 64.5 million.
Ironically, the prevalence of diabetes has more than doubled for men in India and China (3.7 per cent to 9.1 per cent in India and 3.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent in China). It has also increased by 50 per cent among women in China (5.0 per cent to 7.6 per cent) and 80 per cent among women in India (4.6 per cent to 8.3 per cent). Worryingly, no other country saw a significant decrease in diabetes prevalence, claims the Lancet.
Ahead of World Health Day (April 7), the Lancet study disclosed that there has been a fourfold rise in the number of diabetics – from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 with half of them living in India, China, USA, Brazil and Indonesia. The fastest increase has been seen in low and middle income countries. The prevalence of overweight people too jumped in China to 35.4 per cent and 21.4 in India. As per the data 7.3 per cent people in China are obese and 4.7 in India.
Keeping in view the dramatic rise in the number of cases, experts say that the probability of meeting the UN global target of 2025 is “virtually non-existent”. “Rates of diabetes are rising quickly in China, India, and many other low and middle income countries, and if current trends continue, the probability of meeting the 2025 UN global target is virtually non-existent,” said Professor Majid Ezzati, senior author from Imperial College London, London, UK.
The study includes data from 751 studies totalling 4.4 million adults in different world regions. According to the study, between 1980 and 2014, diabetes has become more common among men than women. In fact, the global age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes doubled among men (4.3% to 9.0%) and increased by two-thirds among women (5.0% to 7.9%).
Although there was an increase in overall rates (crude prevalence) of diabetes in many countries in Western Europe, age-adjusted rates were relatively stable suggesting that most of the rise in diabetes in Western Europe between 1980 and 2014 was due to the ageing population. In contrast, rates of diabetes increased significantly in many low and middle income countries – including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Mexico.
The study did not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, but most (85-95%) of cases of adult diabetes are type 2 so the observed rise is likely to be due to increases in type 2 diabetes.
Major takeaways from the Lancet study:
*Half of adults worldwide with diabetes in 2014 lived in five countries: China, India, USA, Brazil and Indonesia. In the US, age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in women increased by 50% (4.3% to 6.4%), and 80% in men (4.7% to 8.2%).
*In the UK, 4.9% of women had diabetes in 2014 (compared to 4.0% in 1980). Prevalence has increased more among men, from 4.8% in 1980 to 6.6% in 2014.
*Northwestern Europe has the lowest rates of diabetes among women and men, with age-adjusted prevalence lower than 4% among women and at 5-6% among men in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. Prevalence of diabetes was highest in Polynesia and Micronesia (age-adjusted prevalence is over 20% in men and women). In American Samoa, nearly one third of the adult population have diabetes.
*The greatest increases in diabetes prevalence were in Pacific island nations, followed by the Middle East and North Africa, in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
*Pakistan, Mexico, Egypt and Indonesia are all now in the top 10 countries with the largest number of adults with diabetes. Age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes doubled in Pakistan (4.9 to 12.6% for men and 5.9 to 12.1% for women), Mexico (6.5 to 10.9% for men and 6.5 to11.5% for women), and Indonesia (3.2 to 7.4% for men and 4.1 to 8.0% for women) and nearly tripled in Egypt (6.5 to 16.0% for men and 8.0% to 19.8% for women).
