The incidence of diabetes has doubled around the world over the past thirty years, a trend that primarily affects less wealthy countries, according to a study published yesterday, Wednesday, in the journal “The Lancet.”
The study – which was conducted by collecting many studies conducted in most countries of the world – stated that about 14% of adults around the world developed diabetes during the year 2022, compared to about 7% in 1990.
Taking into account population growth, researchers indicated that more than 800 million people have diabetes, compared to less than 200 million cases during the early 1990s.
These numbers include the two main types of diabetes: the first, which affects patients at a very young age and is often more difficult to treat because it results from a deficiency of insulin, and the latter, which affects relatively elderly people because cells do not respond properly to the hormone insulin.
But behind these global numbers, the reality varies depending on the country. In wealthy countries, such as Western Europe or Japan, diabetes rates tend to be stable, or sometimes even to decline slightly.
On the other hand, the researchers pointed out that “the burden of diabetes is worsening in low- and middle-income countries.”
For example, about a third of Pakistani women now suffer from diabetes, compared to less than a tenth of their numbers in 1990.
The researchers confirmed that type 2 diabetes tends to progress in countries that suffer from high rates of obesity or poor diets.
They also pointed to inequalities in receiving treatment. In sub-Saharan Africa, the study authors reported that only 5%-10% of adults with diabetes benefit from treatment.
Although some developing countries, such as Mexico, are doing well in terms of population treatment, the overall trend points to “a widening global gap between diabetes prevalence and treatment,” the researchers concluded.