Wednesday, August 09, 2006
DIABETES ARTICLES - Concern Grows Over Increase In Diabetes Around World
DIABETES ARTICLES.
Concern Grows Over Increase In Diabetes Around World
The number of people around the world suffering from diabetes has skyrocketed in the last two decades, from 30 million to 230 million, claiming millions of lives and severely taxing the ability of health care systems to deal with the epidemic, according to data released Saturday by the International Diabetes Federation.
While the growing problem of diabetes in the United States has been well documented, the federation's data show that 7 of the 10 countries with the highest number of diabetics are in the developing world.
China has the largest number over age 20, around 39 million people, or about 2.7 percent of the adult population, the federation says. The group says India has the second-largest number of cases, with an estimated 30 million people, or about 6 percent of the adult population.
Other countries have higher rates of diabetes than either China or India, but the federation says rising diabetes rates in the large, rapidly industrializing nations are especially worrisome because of the size of their populations. In some countries in the Caribbean and the Middle East, the percentage of diabetic people ranged from 12 to 20 percent.
In some of the world's poorest nations, the disease is a quick death sentence. While Americans can live for many years with the disease, a person in Mozambique who requires injections of insulin can expect to live just a year; in Mali, such people survive about 30 months.
There are many factors driving the growth in diabetes worldwide, but most experts agree that changes in lifestyle and diet are the chief culprits, in addition to genetic predisposition. As developing countries industrialize, people tend to do work involving less physical activity and eat food that is cheap but high in calories. The combination causes weight gain, which leads to greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.
The other form, Type 1, is responsible for only 5 percent to 10 percent of cases, and is believed to stem almost entirely from genetic factors.
''Diabetes is one of the biggest health catastrophes the world has ever seen,'' said Dr. Martin Silink, the president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation.
To help stem the tide of the disease, the federation is seeking a United Nations resolution to recognize the seriousness of the problem. If that effort is successful, it would be the first of its kind for a noncommunicable disease.
by Marc Santora at New York Times.
Concern Grows Over Increase In Diabetes Around World
The number of people around the world suffering from diabetes has skyrocketed in the last two decades, from 30 million to 230 million, claiming millions of lives and severely taxing the ability of health care systems to deal with the epidemic, according to data released Saturday by the International Diabetes Federation.
While the growing problem of diabetes in the United States has been well documented, the federation's data show that 7 of the 10 countries with the highest number of diabetics are in the developing world.
China has the largest number over age 20, around 39 million people, or about 2.7 percent of the adult population, the federation says. The group says India has the second-largest number of cases, with an estimated 30 million people, or about 6 percent of the adult population.
Other countries have higher rates of diabetes than either China or India, but the federation says rising diabetes rates in the large, rapidly industrializing nations are especially worrisome because of the size of their populations. In some countries in the Caribbean and the Middle East, the percentage of diabetic people ranged from 12 to 20 percent.
In some of the world's poorest nations, the disease is a quick death sentence. While Americans can live for many years with the disease, a person in Mozambique who requires injections of insulin can expect to live just a year; in Mali, such people survive about 30 months.
There are many factors driving the growth in diabetes worldwide, but most experts agree that changes in lifestyle and diet are the chief culprits, in addition to genetic predisposition. As developing countries industrialize, people tend to do work involving less physical activity and eat food that is cheap but high in calories. The combination causes weight gain, which leads to greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.
The other form, Type 1, is responsible for only 5 percent to 10 percent of cases, and is believed to stem almost entirely from genetic factors.
''Diabetes is one of the biggest health catastrophes the world has ever seen,'' said Dr. Martin Silink, the president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation.
To help stem the tide of the disease, the federation is seeking a United Nations resolution to recognize the seriousness of the problem. If that effort is successful, it would be the first of its kind for a noncommunicable disease.
by Marc Santora at New York Times.
