Diabetes
Diabetes is an incurable disease that transpires either when the pancreas does not produce adequate insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that oversees blood sugar. Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to significant defects to many of the body’s systems, primarily the nerves and blood vessels.
In 2019,
Virtually 463 million adults (20-79 years) were living with diabetes; by 2045 this will rise to 700 million
The proportion of people with type 2 diabetes is increasing in most countries
79% of adults with diabetes were living in low- and middle-income countries
1 in 5 of the people who are above 65 years old have diabetes
1 in 2 (232 million) people with diabetes were undiagnosed
Diabetes caused 4.2 million deaths
Diabetes caused at least USD 760 billion dollars in health expenditure in 2019 – 10% of total spending on adults
More than 1.1 million children and adolescents are living with type 1 diabetes
More than 20 million live births (1 in 6 live births) are affected by diabetes during pregnancy
374 million people are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (formerly known as insulin-dependent, juvenile or childhood-onset) is characterized by deficient insulin creation and requires daily administration of insulin. The cause of type 1 diabetes is not known and it is not preventable with current knowledge.
Symptoms include excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes, and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent, or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises the majority of people with diabetes around the world and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity.
Symptoms may be identical to those of type 1 diabetes but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, once complications have already arisen.
Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also occurring increasingly frequently in children.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is hyperglycemia with blood glucose values above normal but below those diagnostic of diabetes, occurring during pregnancy.
Women with gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of complications during pregnancy and at delivery. They and their children are also at increased risk of type 2 diabetes in the future.
Gestational diabetes is diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than through reported symptoms.
Impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glycemia
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glycemia (IFG) are intermediate conditions in the transition between normality and diabetes. People with IGT or IFG are at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes, although this is not inevitable.
What are the common consequences of diabetes?
Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
Adults with diabetes have a two- to three-fold increased risk of heart attacks and strokes (1).
Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy (nerve damage) in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers, infection and the eventual need for limb amputation.
Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. 2.6% of global blindness can be attributed to diabetes (2).
Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure (3).
How can the burden of diabetes be reduced?
Prevention
Simple lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:
- achieve and maintain a healthy body weight;
- be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control;
eat a healthy diet, avoiding sugar and saturated fats intake; and
avoid tobacco use – smoking increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Diagnosis and treatment
Early diagnosis can be accomplished through relatively inexpensive testing of blood sugar.
Treatment of diabetes involves diet and physical activity along with lowering blood glucose and the levels of other known risk factors that damage blood vessels. Tobacco use cessation is also important to avoid complications.
Interventions that are both cost-saving and feasible in developing countries include:
blood glucose control, particularly in type 1 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes require insulin, people with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, but may also require insulin;
blood pressure control; and
foot care.
Other cost-saving interventions include:
screening and treatment for retinopathy (which causes blindness)
blood lipid control (to regulate cholesterol levels)
screening for early signs of diabetes-related kidney disease and treatment.
