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

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

A 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.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar level is too high. If untreated, it can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves and other organs.

The study, recently published in the publication Lancet, found that around 828 million people aged 18 and older had diabetes worldwide in 2022. Among those 30 and older, the study said 445 million, or 59 percent, were not receiving treatment.

The study was done by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization (WHO). It is the first worldwide evaluation based on more than 1,000 studies involving more than 140 million people.

Shocking increase

The WHO estimated that the number of people living with diabetes worldwide rose from 200 million in 1990 to about 830 million in 2022. The study’s researchers say the increase has been caused largely by rising cases in low- and middle-income countries. Treatments in those countries have not kept up with the rise, while the situation has improved in some higher-income countries.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement that the increase shown in the study was shocking. “To bring the global diabetes epidemic under control, countries must urgently take action," he said. Those actions should include policies supporting healthy diets and physical activity, as well as health systems that can prevent, identify and treat the condition.

Treating the disease is costly

Jean Claude Mbanya is a professor at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon. He said that in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, only 5-10 percent of those estimated to have diabetes were getting treatment. He added that treating diabetes, either with insulin or drugs, can be costly. "A huge number (are) at risk of serious health complications," he said.

Some 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.

The WHO says the number of deaths caused by diabetes has been increasing since 2000. In 2021, the disease was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths.

Symptoms and prevention

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

• feeling very thirsty
• needing to urinate more often than usual
• blurred vision
• feeling tired
• losing weight

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

• keeping a healthy body weight
• staying active with at least 150 minutes of exercise each week
• eating a healthy diet and avoiding sugar and saturated fat
• not smoking tobacco.

I’m Jill Robbins.

Jennifer Rigby reported this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted the story for Learning English with additional information from The Lancet and the WHO.

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Words in This Story

evaluate – v. to judge the value or condition of (someone or something) in a careful and thoughtful way

income – n. money that is earned from work, investments, business, etc.

global – adj. involving the entire world

insulin – n. a substance that your body makes and uses to turn sugar into energy

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