According to an analysis published in The Lancet journal ahead of World Diabetes Day, observed on November 14 every year, it is estimated that about 828 million people worldwide will suffer from diabetes in 2022, of which more than a quarter will be in India. .
Researchers who form the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Collaboration (NCD-RISC) said the figure of 828 million is four times the 1990 number, with the largest increase in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Between 1990 and 2022, diabetes treatment rates stagnated at low levels in many of the same LMICs where incidence of the disease increased, resulting in 445 million adults aged 30 years and older globally dying from the metabolic condition. (about 60 percent) who did so. Researchers said, treatment will not be found in 2022.
Of the 828 million, India’s share was more than a quarter (212 million). Researchers found that another 148 million were in China, while 42 million, 36 million and 22 million lived in the US, Pakistan and Brazil, respectively.
NCD-RISC is a global network of more than 1,500 researchers and practitioners coordinated by the World Health Organization that provides information on non-communicable disease risk factors in different countries.
Additionally, in 2022, nearly a third of the 445 million adults (133 million) with untreated diabetes lived in India.
“Our findings show that the number of people with diabetes living in low- and middle-income countries is increasing, especially the number of people with untreated diabetes,” said study author Jean Claude Mbanya of the University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon. Said.
“The majority of people with untreated diabetes will not have received a diagnosis, so diabetes detection should be an urgent priority in countries with low levels of treatment,” he said.
Undiagnosed diabetes has been linked to complications such as diabetic retinopathy – when high blood sugar levels damage the retina of the eye (which is sensitive to light) – which can potentially lead to vision loss and blindness.
A 2022 study published in the International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries found that in India, 12.5 percent of people with diabetes (30 lakh) had diabetic retinopathy – of which 4 percent had sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy. – and therefore, there is “immediate risk of vision loss”.
The Smart India study, including researchers from Sanakara Nethralaya in Chennai, was conducted in 10 Indian states and one union territory, involving more than 6,000 patients with diabetes aged 40 years and older who had their retinal images sequentially Were. The authors called for screening for diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes.
“Given the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes, preventing diabetes through healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health worldwide,” said study author Ranjit Mohan Anjana of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, India.
He said the findings highlighted the need for more ambitious policies to restrict unhealthy foods and make healthy foods more affordable.
Mohan Anjana said, “Increasing opportunities for exercise through measures such as subsidies for healthy foods and free healthy school meals, as well as promoting safe places to walk and exercise, including free entry to public parks and fitness centres. There is also a need to improve.”
Claude Mabanya said, “Improved diagnosis of diabetes requires innovations such as workplace and community screening programmes, extended or flexible healthcare hours to enable people to go outside of standard working hours, HIV/AIDS and TB to be integrated with screening and care for diseases such as Well-established programs, and use of reliable community health service providers.”
