Study: More Than 800 Million Have Diabetes Worldwide, Many Untreated

01A new study reports that more than 800 million adults have diabetes worldwide, and more than half of those aged over 30 who have the condition are not receiving treatment.

02Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar level is too high.

03If untreated, it can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves, and other organs.

04The study, recently published in the publication Lancet, found that around 828 million people aged 18 and older had diabetes worldwide in 2022.

05Among those 30 and older, the study said 445 million, or 59%, were not receiving treatment.

06The study was done by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization, or WHO.

07It is the first worldwide evaluation based on more than 1,000 studies involving more than 140 million people.

08The WHO estimated that the number of people living with diabetes worldwide rose from 200 million in 1990 to about 830 million in 2022.

09The study's researchers say the increase has been caused largely by rising cases in low- and middle-income countries.

10Treatments in those countries have not kept up with the rise, while the situation has improved in some higher-income countries.

11WHO Director General Dr.

12Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the increase shown in the study was shocking.

13To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action, he said.

14Those actions should include policies supporting healthy diets and physical activity, as well as health systems that can prevent, identify, and treat the condition.

15Jean-Claude Mbanya is a professor at the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon.

16He said that in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, only 5 to 10 percent of those estimated to have diabetes were getting treatment.

17He added that treating diabetes, either with insulin or drugs, can be costly.

18A huge number are at risk of serious health complications, he said.

19Some of the largest improvements, 25 to 37 percentage points, happened in countries in Latin America, Central and Western Europe, Canada, South Korea, Russia, Seychelles, and Jordan.

20The WHO says the number of deaths caused by diabetes has been increasing since 2000.

21In 2021, the disease was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths.

22The health agency says symptoms of diabetes may happen suddenly or take many years to be noticed.

23They include feeling very thirsty, needing to urinate more often than usual, blurred vision, feeling tired, and losing weight.

24The best way to prevent or delay the illness, the WHO says, is to make lifestyle changes.

25For example, keeping a healthy body weight.

26Staying active with at least 150 minutes of exercise each week.

27Eating a healthy diet and avoiding sugar and saturated fat.

28And not smoking tobacco.

29I'm Jill Robbins.