Diabetes by the Numbers

A major international study looking at worldwide diabetes data since 1980 has discovered that the number of adults with the disease reached 347 million in 2008, more than double the number in 1980. The research was just published in The Lancet.

The study, the largest of its kind for diabetes, was carried out by an international collaboration of researchers, led by Professor Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London and co-led by Dr. Goodarz Danaei from the Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration with The World Health Organization and a number of other institutions.

Here is a summary of some of the data they complied:

• High blood glucose and diabetes are responsible for over three million deaths worldwide each year.

• Between 1980 and 2008, the number of adults with diabetes rose from 153 million to 347 million.

• The proportion of adults with diabetes rose to 9.8 per cent of men and 9.2 per cent of women in 2008, compared with 8.3 per cent of men and 7.5 per cent of women in 1980.

• The estimated number of diabetics was considerably higher than a previous study in 2009 which put the number worldwide at 285 million.

• Diabetes has taken off most dramatically in Pacific Island nations, which now have the highest diabetes levels in the world. In the Marshall Islands, one in three women and one in four men have diabetes.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Michele W.

2:17PM PDT on Sep 14, 2011

Thank you

send a green star

jane r.

4:41PM PDT on Sep 11, 2011

Ah yes the gift that keeps on giving. Make it go away PLEASE!!!!

alicia m.

4:02AM PDT on Aug 28, 2011

please sign my diabetes related petition, gracias

http://www.change.org/petitions/por-la-investigacin-de-la-diabetes-no-ms-recortes-no-more-diabetes-investigation-funds-cuts

Robert O.

12:23AM PDT on Aug 25, 2011

Very frightening and sobering numbers. Thanks.

Tim C.

5:19PM PDT on Aug 6, 2011

thanks.

klemens o.

11:07PM PDT on Jul 31, 2011

diabetes is not all ways somthing there have to do with your lifestyle.

Anya G.

5:54AM PDT on Jul 26, 2011

I highly support changing the name diabetes to "Cookie disorder." Type I diabetes is a real disease, caused by most likely a virus in childhood that cannot be repaired. Type II is easily fixed by stepping away from the sugar and taking a walk. People can continue to try to be politically correct about this subject, but America will eventually look like Idiocracy if we ignore this problem. For the folks that will scream "oh, you just don't understand," actually I almost did research in a type I diabetes lab (much research involved with understanding the difference in type I and II), furthermore my cat was a fatty and almost died from Type II...After a monumental change in diet, he's now insulin free, in great shape and doesn't look a day over 5 years old (he's 12).
I'm so sick of obesity being so hush-hush. I'm also tired of the folks that prtend that having Type II is just devastating....Sorry, but having Type I, having cancer, having AIDS is awful...Having type II diabetes means you can't close your mouth when cake is involved. Type I on the other hand is devastating, but you're not the size of a house when you have Type I (quite the opposite).

Akin A.

3:08AM PDT on Jul 10, 2011

thanks for the great article

Edwin K.

12:34AM PDT on Jul 10, 2011

The incidence of diabetes is 30 times higher in obese persons. One way of avoiding diabetes is by losing unwanted body weight.

heather g.

12:30AM PDT on Jul 7, 2011

Now where did this cynicism come from all of sudden? Could this spike in numbers be driven by the pharmaceutical firms? I had no diabetes in my family, but was put on the medication as a precautionary measure when I moved to Canada. My bloodwork confirms it is very well controlled. I'm pleased about that because pancreatic cancer is now linked to Type II Diabetes ??