Diabetes - A World Epidemic

Diabetes is becoming an epidemic! There is a huge increase in the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes on a world level, and this is not good news! The International Diabetes Federation shows that this disease affects more than 246 million people all over the world and almost 50% of those diagnosed with the disease are between the ages of forty to sixty. Until now, studies have greatly underestimated the problem. Based on these studies it is estimated that 380 million people will be affected in the next twenty years.

Type 2 diabetes now affects almost 6% of the world's population, and almost 80% of the total 6% happening in developing countries. The countries with the largest number of population affected by type 2 diabetes are in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and then North America.
India is the leading nation with the highest number of people affected by diabetes type II. They estimate that there are over 40 million people affected with the disease. China follows with 39.8 million people and then comes the United States, Russia, Germany and others.

The disease has been gestating in the world population for fifty years, but now it is becoming even more widespread. People in the medical field have been warning everyone about the problem, but most of society has not been listening. In fact, most world governments have been ignoring the problem.

Today it is being felt most in India, the Middle East, China and the United States. Something has to be done and done quickly! Unfortunately there is not a miracle pill that can solve the problem. This is an issue that has to be looked into, because a lot of what causes diabetes is nutritional based.

We have known about the increase in Diabetes for 50 years, but haven't really done anything about this terrible disease.The cause is varied and has to do with environment, and social behaviours, alterations in lifestyle and in diet and physical activity are known causers of the disease.

In developing nation it seems to be more prevalent among poor communities. This is because families within these economic levels tend to buy more packaged drinks and low cost foods.

Don't be fooled! Diabetes is a deadly disease, and almost 3.8 million people die from its causes every year. This sheer quantity of deaths is the same as those that die from HIV/AIDS per year. It used to be that the disease was only attributed to the elderly, but now it affects middle aged people too, especially in developing nations. Diabetes is a world killer and accounts for loss of life and suffering by many, yet not very much is being done about it.