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WHO: Diabetes rates skyrocketing worldwide

 

 

 

 

 

Diabetes rates nearly doubled in the past three decades, largely due to increases in obesity and sugary diets, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

 

 

 

 

 

Diabetes rates nearly doubled in the past three decades, largely due to increases in obesity and sugary diets, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Health Organization.

The percentage of adults living with diabetes worldwide grew from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014. Overall, there was a nearly four-fold increase in worldwide cases: An estimated 422 million adults were living with diabetes in 2014, up from 108 million in 1980.

The WHO describes diabetes as a serious, chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. 

In 2012, 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, had diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. About 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year, according to the organization. More than 8.1 million Americans with diabetes don't know it, putting them at greater risk of complications.

The disease can develop slowly over time. In 2012, 86 million Americans age 20 and older had prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar is higher than normal but doesn't yet qualify as diabetes. 

Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States, killing about 69,000 Americans a year. The disease contributes to an additional 234,000 deaths each year, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Worldwide, diabetes killed 1.5 million people in 2012, according to the WHO report. High blood sugar caused an additional 2.2 million deaths by increasing the risks of heart disease and other chronic conditions. About 43% of these deaths occur before the age of 70.

 

The percentage of deaths attributable to high blood glucose or diabetes that occur prior to age 70 is higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries such as the USA.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune that often develops early in childhood. Type 2 diabetes, which is far more common, is linked to obesity and often preventable. Two in three Americans is overweight and one in three is obese.

“The best way to prevent diabetes is for people to follow a healthy diet, avoiding ultra-processed foods and sugary beverages that are high in calories and low in nutrients, and to engage in regular physical activity to help maintain a healthy body weight,” said Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, WHO’s regional office for the Americas.

Preventing diabetes, she said, “is not just an individual responsibility." Governments need to adopt effective public policies and measures that help "make the healthy choice the easiest choice to make."
 
The growth of diabetes can be slowed through policies and legislation aimed at changing the environment in which people make lifestyle decisions, along with greater public awareness of the need to address the top risk factors for the disease, according to the report.

The report urges measures to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods, including increased taxes on sugary drinks and front-of-package labeling that alerts consumers to excessive fat, sugar and salt in processed foods.

 

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