Dubai – Masaader News
The global prevalence of adult diabetes has nearly quadrupled since 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, World Diabetes Day, with the call to “eat healthily, be physically active and avoid excessive weight gain.”
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces, which leads to an increased concentration of glucose in the blood. Around 1.6 million deaths can be directly attributed to diabetes each year.
“Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke and lower limb amputation,” said WHO, noting that about 422 million adults have the disease – a number that has been increasing steadily over the last three decades.
WHO Spokesperson Fadela Chaib said that was largely due to changes in lifestyle: “We are eating more heavy foods, full of fat and sugar; we are less physically active; and we have a more sedentary way of living.”
As one of the leading causes of death globally, diabetes is a major public health problem, one of four priority non-communicable diseases targeted for action by world leaders, according to WHO.
Even when blood glucose levels are not high enough to warrant a diagnosis of diabetes, damage can occur to the body, elevating the risk of cardiovascular disease.
In 2012 diabetes took 1.5 million lives and higher-than-optimal levels of blood glucose another 2.2 million. Of the 3.7 million people who died, 43 per cent occurred before the age of 70.