A study published in The Lancet on the occasion of World Diabetes Day 2024 finds a significant increase in cases globally, with rates more than doubling in the last three decades: currently more than 800 million people in the world suffer from diabetes, around 630 million more than in 1990. In Italy, 3.9 million people have diabetes: the increase is only partly attributable to the aging of the population, important risk factors are high rates of obesity, poor nutrition and activity levels very low physics.
The number of people suffering from diabetes in the world has more than doubled in the last 30 years, exceeding 800 million / Photo Credit: IStock
One of the largest international studies, published in the magazine The Lancet on the occasion of World Diabetes Day 2024noted a significant global increase in cases of diabeteswith rates more than doubling in 30 years: currently, more than 800 million people around the world suffer from diabetes, around 630 million more than three decades ago. In Italy, 3.9 million people have diabetes but it is estimated that a further one and a half million have the disease without yet having received a diagnosis.
The analysis considered fasting blood sugar values e of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and diabetes treatment information for 141 million people aged 18 and over over three decades, providing an estimate of trends from 1990 to 2022 in the prevalence of this metabolic disease and treatment in 200 countries and territories worldwide.
The study does not distinguish between type 1 diabetes – autoimmune disease in which the body destroys the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin – e type 2 diabetes – the metabolic disorder which prevents the body from using insulin correctly – but the findings highlight the urgency of measures to keep this trend under control, particularly in countries where the number of diabetes cases is increasing dramatically. Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes can be prevented, but the worsening of some risk factors and, in particular, high rates of obesity, poor nutrition and very low levels of physical activity, are among the main culprits of the increase in cases.
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More than 800 million people in the world, approximately 3.9 million in Italy, suffer from diabetes
Over the past three decades, the number of people living with diabetes in the world has more than doubled, exceeding 800 million. Specifically, the results of the new study, conducted by network scientists NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), indicate that 828 million adults aged 18 and over suffer from diabetes, with an increase of approximately 630 million in the last 30 years.
From 1990 to 2022, diabetes rates have increased in 131 countries, including Italyalthough the largest increases occurred in low- and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia (such as Malaysia), South Asia, particularly Pakistan, and the Middle East and North Africa, such as Egypt. Significant increases also occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica.
More than half of global diabetes cases are concentrated in four countries: more than a quarter of people with diabetes (212 million) live in India, 148 in China, 42 million in the United States and 36 million in Pakistan. In Indonesia and Brazil, cases of diabetes are approximately 25 million and 22 million.
In some countries in the Pacific, Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, more than 25% of the female and male population suffer from diabetes, while United States (12.5%) and the United Kingdom (8.8%) have had the highest rates of diabetes among high-income Western countries. In contrast, diabetes rates decreased by 2-4% in women living in France, Denmark and Spain, and by 3-5% in men living in Denmark, France, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Spain and Rwanda.
In Italydiabetes rates have increased by 0.8% in women and 4.7% in men over the past 30 years, for a total of approximately 3.9 million Italians who suffer from diabetes in 2022. The full results of the analysis can be viewed and downloaded on the NCD-RisC website.
How do we explain the increase in diabetes cases?
The increase in diabetes cases, the researchers note, can be explained only partly due to factors such as the aging of the population – with increasing life expectancy, there are more elderly people, who have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes – and the increase in early diagnoses.
An important factor in the increase in diabetes cases includes the increase rates of overweight and obesity in the population. “Diabetes rates – explain the authors of the study – they were already high or increased more in some of the regions where obesity was or has become prevalentas in Pacific island nations and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, compared to high-income countries in Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, where obesity and diabetes have not increased or have increased relatively little”.
In addition to overweight and obesity, another factor that can influence the risk of diabetes is the consumption of ultra-processed and sugary foods. “Refined carbohydrates, including those in sugary drinks, increase this risk” the experts recall, also highlighting how the contribution of low levels of physical activity determines “a triangle of unwanted factors” which increases the risk of diabetes.
Diabetes may pose a greater risk of cardiovascular diseases, hypertensioncognitive decline, osteoporosis and loss of fingers and toes. “Consider the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes – he stated Dr Ranjit Mohan Anjanaco-author of the study and president of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in India – Preventing it through a healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health worldwide”.
“Our results – added the expert – highlight the need for more ambitious policiesespecially in low-income regions of the world, that make effective treatments more accessible, limit unhealthy foods and improve opportunities for exercise, through measures such as subsidies for healthy food and free healthy school mealsand promote safe places to walk and exercise, including free entry to public parks and fitness centers”.
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