The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organization of over 200 national diabetes associations in over 160 countries. Besides promoting diabetes care and prevention, the IDF tracks statistics on diabetes and diabetics on a worldwide basis.
The Federation publishes the Diabetes Atlas, a collection of statistics and comments on diabetes which is issued from time-to-time. The Atlas
is based on data supplied by its members. As these are national
associations, the facts and figures published by the IDF are considered
quite reliable.
According to the 6th edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas,
which was published in 2013, the total population of the world is 7.2
billion. This is expected to have risen to 8.7 billion by 2035, ie in 22
years time.
This total population includes 4.6 billion adults and
these has been projected to reach 5.9 billion by 2035. The IDF defines
an adult as a person aged 20-79 years, the most likely age range for the
development of type 2 diabetes.
According to the Diabetes Atlas,
382 million people around the world or 8.3% of all 4.6 million adults
(20-79 years) are estimated to be suffering from diabetes. Almost half
of all adults with diabetes are aged 40-59 years, the age range during
which people are at their most productive phase in life.
The
number of people with type 2 diabetes is increasing in every country. If
current trends continue, the IDF expects that there will be more than
592 million diabetics by 2035, a rise of 55%, when one adult in ten will
be diabetic.
Undiagnosed diabetes
Type 2 diabetes
may be undiagnosed for several reasons. There are few symptoms in the
early years of the disease. In addition, the complications vary so
widely that, even when symptoms do exist, diabetes may not be recognised
as the cause.
The IDF figure for 382 million diabetics in 2013
includes 175 million who are undiagnosed. I must admit I was astounded
when I first read that 46% of diabetics are undiagnosed. How can you
count something if you don't know it exists?
Estimating the number
of undiagnosed diabetics, I discovered, is relatively easy. All the IDF
had to do was to arrange tests for a sample of people living in a
particular area. The tests, which are carried out by the IDF's national
associates, identify both known and unknown cases of diabetes, and it is
a simple mathematical exercise to extrapolate to the population as a
whole with a high degree of accuracy.
Many (but not all) persons
who know they have the disease will be making some attempts to beat
their diabetes. The problem with undiagnosed diabetes is that these
diabetics will not be managing their blood glucose levels and may be
developing complications, such as kidney disease, heart failure,
retinopathy and neuropathy, unbeknownst to themselves.
Regional differences
The Diabetes Atlas
provides statistics for 219 countries which the IDF have grouped into
seven regions: Africa, Europe, the Middle East & North Africa, North
America & the Caribbean, South & Central America, South-east
Asia, and the Western Pacific.
The IDF estimates that 80% of
diabetics live in low- and middle-income countries where the disease is
increasing very fast and posing a threat to development. The prevalence
of diabetes, however, varies widely from region to region and country to
country. It also varies widely within regions... to an extent that
suggests that the grouping of countries into regions by the IDF needs
revising.
While about 8% of adults (aged 20-79) in the Western
Pacific have diabetes, in certain countries in that region the
proportion of adult diabetics is much higher. In Tokelau, for example,
37.5% of adults are diabetic. The figure for the Federated States of
Micronesia is 35%.
In the Middle East and North Africa, nearly 11%
of adults have diabetes. However this is an average for the entire
region and the figures for the Arabian Gulf states are much higher, more
than double the average, with 24% of adults in Saudi Arabia, 23.1% in
Kuwait and 22.9% in Qatar being diabetic.
Undiagnosed diabetes
also varies from region to region. In some countries in sub-Saharan
Africa up to 90% of diabetics are undiagnosed, mainly due to a lack of
resources and priorities. By contrast, in high-income countries about
one-third of the people with diabetes have not been diagnosed.
In
most countries diabetes is increasing in tandem with rapid economic
development, which is leading to changes in diets, ageing populations,
increasing urbanisation, reduced physical activity and unhealthy
behaviour. Many governments, however, seem to be unaware of the growing
crisis and the likelihood of serious consequences that could stifle
their countries' development.
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)
The
IDF estimates that about 316 million people or 6.9% of adults (20-79)
have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). By 2035 this number is expected
to have risen to 471 million (8.0% of the world's adult population).
This
is serious, as people with IGT or pre-diabetes have a greatly increased
risk of developing type 2 diabetes. IGT is also linked with the
development of cardiovascular disease.
The majority of adults with
IGT (about 3.5% of the world's total adult population) are under the
age of 50 and are thus at a high risk of becoming type 2 diabetics later
in life. Even more worry-some is the fact that nearly 1/3 of all those
who have IGT are aged 20 to 39 years. Unless they overhaul their
life-styles these people are virtually guaranteed to become diabetic
later in life.
Adding the number of diabetics worldwide (382
million) to the number of people with IGT (316 million) gives a total of
698 million. In other words, nearly 10% of the total population of the
world or over 15% of all adults (20-79) have either diabetes or
pre-diabetes.
By comparison, only 33.4 million people on this
planet are living with HIV/AIDS... about 1/20th of all diabetics and
pre-diabetics. It's glaringly obvious that diabetes and pre-diabetes
represent a massive crisis that is threatening to overwhelm global
health systems.
Deaths
Received opinion is that the
medical complications caused by diabetes, such as heart failure and
kidney disease, are major causes of death in most countries.
However,
it is very difficult to accurately estimate the number of deaths
because (a) more than a third of countries do not maintain data on death
due to diabetes and (b) routine health statistics under-record these
deaths, because the death certificates on which these statistics are
based often omit diabetes as a cause of death.
To overcome these
problems, the IDF uses a modelling approach to estimate the number of
deaths attributable to diabetes, and appears to have come up with some
reasonable estimates.
Diabetes is expected to be the cause of
about 5.1 million deaths in adults aged between 20 and 79 in 2013 and
nearly half (48%) of these will be people under the age of 60. Diabetes
ranks as a leading cause of premature death.
These deaths
represent about 8.4% of all deaths of adults (20-79). Deaths due to
diabetes are increasing. The estimated overall number of deaths in 2013
represents an 11% increase over the estimates for 2011. Death from
diabetes is on a rising trend.
Health costs
There is
no cure for diabetes. For this reason, diabetics have to look after
their health assiduously. Where they are unable to control their
diabetes through diet and exercise, they have to resort to regular
medication. This can be expensive both for health systems and for
diabetics and their families.
The IDF has estimated global health
spending on diabetes to be at least USD 548 billion dollars in 2013...
11% of the total spent on adult health. This is expected to exceed USD
627 billion by 2035.
Where diabetes is undiagnosed, the benefits
of early diagnosis and treatment are lost. Thus, the costs relating to
undiagnosed diabetes must be considerable. One study found that
undiagnosed diabetes in the USA was responsible for an additional USD 18
billion in healthcare costs in one year.
There are large
disparities in spending between regions and countries. Only 20% of
global health expenditure on diabetes was made in the low- and
middle-income countries where 80% of diabetics live. On average, the
estimate spend in 2013 is USD 5,621 per diabetic in high-income
countries but only USD 356 in low- and middle-income countries.
However,
when individual countries are compared, the disparities are extremely
stark. Norway spends an average of USD 10,368 on diabetes healthcare per
diabetic, while countries such as Somalia and Eritrea spend less than
USD 30.
The costs associated with diabetes, however, are much
wider that just the costs of providing the appropriate health services.
The overall costs include losses in productivity, social costs such as
disability payments, and losses of income. Without a doubt, diabetes
imposes a heavy economic burden on countries, families and individuals.
To find out more, visit IDF Diabetes Atlas where you can download the book free of charge.
If you explore the site, you'll also find plenty more statistics if you click on Diabetes: Facts & Figures.
Summary
Total world population in 2013 (2035): 7.2 billion (8.7 billion)
Adult (20-79 years) population 2013 (2035): 4.6 billion (5.9 billion)
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Number of diabetics in 2013 (2035): 382 million (592 million)
Adult (20-79) diabetics in 2013 (2035): 8.3% (10.1%)
Number of pre-diabetics (IGT) in 2013 (2035): 316 million (471 million)
Adult (20-79) pre-diabetics (IGT) in 2013 (2035): 6.9% (8.0%)
Undiagnosed diabetics in 2013: 175 million (46% of all diabetics)
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80% of diabetics live in low- and middle-income countries
Number of deaths of adults (20-79) in 2013: 5.1 million
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Health expenditure for diabetes in 2013 (2035): US$ 548 billion (US$627 billion)
Only 20% of total health expenditure spent in low- and middle-income countries
Total healthcare spend per diabetic in Norway: US$ 10,368
Total healthcare spend per diabetic in Somalia: US$ 30
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Do you want to learn more, then get this excellent ebook Reverse Diabetes" by clicking on the link below.
http:tiny.cc/diabeteshelp
Paul D Kennedy is a type 2 diabetic. He used his skills as an international consultant and researcher to find a way to control his diabetes using diet alone and, about five years ago, he stopped taking medications to control his blood glucose levels. You can find out more from beating-diabetes.com or by contacting Paul at paul@beating-diabetes.com. His book Beating Diabetes is available for download from Amazon.
http:tiny.cc/diabeteshelp
Paul D Kennedy is a type 2 diabetic. He used his skills as an international consultant and researcher to find a way to control his diabetes using diet alone and, about five years ago, he stopped taking medications to control his blood glucose levels. You can find out more from beating-diabetes.com or by contacting Paul at paul@beating-diabetes.com. His book Beating Diabetes is available for download from Amazon.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_D_Kennedy
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