Alarming Statistics about Diabetes
Often ignored and overlooked this chronic disease is growing at a faster pace targeting almost every age bracket.
Diabetes is one of the most chronic and dreadful diseases found in the history of medical sciences. It is a disease that slowly and steadily destroys almost all organs of a human being. Diabetes is termed as a metabolic disorder. It is a disorder of the metabolism causing extreme thirst and production of large amounts of urine. The metabolism of human body refers the way our bodies use digested food for energy and growth. The alarming signs of diabetes are often misjudged and overlooked by the majority of the people as a flu or stomach pain.
Some of the early symptoms of diabetes include extreme thirst, extreme hunger, frequent urinations, fatigue, sudden weight loss etc. if you are having any of these symptoms go concern your doctor before it's too late as is a famous proverb Testing More Often Is A High Avoided. Blurry vision, numbness, slows healing wounds; dry skin is other few minor and less recognizable symptoms of this disease. The World diabetes day is celebrated on the November 14 around the world. It is celebrated on this date because it is the birthday of Frederick Grant Banting. He is the scientist who discovered insulin, a hormone diabetic's lack.
The number of diabetic patients has been increasing at an alarming rate. The health experts agree that today diabetes is a major health concern, which is increasing at a faster pace. In the UK, the number of diabetic patients has increased from 1.4 million to 2.6 million. It is predicted; that by 2025 over four million people will have diabetes.
A report published by the World Health Organization predicts, in coming years the developing countries will face a big challenge in face of diabetes. The important findings of this report are as follows:
According to the report currently 70% of the people who are suffering from diabetes belong to middle and lower income countries. According to an estimate almost 285 million people accounting 6.4% of the world's total adult population have suffered from diabetes in 2010 and this amount is expected to increase to 438 million accounting 7.8% of the adult population. The statistics show that almost 70% of the people suffering from diabetes belong to low and middle income countries. India has the world's largest diabetic population with 50.8 million people followed by china that is having 43.2 million diabetic patients in its population. 40-59 years age group is the largest that is recently affected by this deadly disease.
With 196 million cases, in 2030 this record is expected to move to the 60-79 age groups. This chronic disease is one of the most important causes of premature illness and deaths worldwide. According to the 2011 National Diabetes fact sheet alarming figures can be seen about the aforesaid disease in the United States of America. Out of the 25.8 million children and adults in the USA almost 8.3% of the population has diabetes. Total diagnosed patients are 18.8 million. In the age bracket under 20 years 201,000 or 0.6% of the people have diabetes. About 1 in every 400 children and adults has type 1 diabetes. In the age bracket 20 years or older 25.6 million or 11.3%of the people have diabetes. In the age group 65 years or older 10.9 million or 26.9% of all the people of this age group are suffering from diabetes. 13.0 million Or 11.8% of all the men aging 20 years or above have developed this deadly disease. Similarly 12.6 million or 10.8% of all women aged 20 years or older have developed diabetes.
6.9 million People in Pakistan are suffering from diabetes. According to the estimates of the International Diabetes Federation this amount will double to 11.5 million in 2025 if no proper steps are taken to educate the masses about this dreadful disease. According to a survey conducted in 2007 almost 246 million people in the world suffered from diabetes. It has become the fourth most important cause of death worldwide. Following are the top ten countries that have the highest number of diabetic patients.
Top ten countries with highest number of diabetic patients are; India, China, America, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil, Italy, and Bangladesh.
The above stated facts and figures paint a horrible picture of the coming times ahead for our coming generations. In order to control this worse situation concrete step should be taken to create a mass awareness about this deadly disease.
