Increase in the Incidence of Diabetes and Its Implications.

Diabetes mellitus is among the most prevalent and morbid chronic diseases, affecting the health of millions of persons worldwide. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report for 2015, the prevalence of diabetes rose from approximately 333 million persons in 2005 to approximately 435 million persons in 2015, an increase of 30.6%.1 During the same interval, the annual number of deaths from diabetes rose from 1.2 million to 1.5 million.2 This increase is attributed in the GBD report to population growth and aging, with small decreases in age-specific and cause-specific mortality over the same period.

The investigators examined changes in mortality and the incidence of cardiovascular disease over time. Mortality and the incidence of cardiovascular disease both decreased significantly over the study period. All-cause mortality decreased by 31.4 deaths per 10,000 person-years among persons with type 1 diabetes and by 69.6 deaths per 10,000 person-years among those with type 2 diabetes. The incidence of death from cardiovascular disease decreased by 26.0 deaths per 10,000 person-years among persons with type 1 diabetes and by 110.0 deaths per 10,000 person-years among those with type 2 diabetes. However, the rates of fatal outcomes decreased significantly less among patients with type 2 diabetes than among matched controls.

What is the solution for this increasing prevalence of Diabetes and the associated problems! It is clear that we are far from controlling the negative effects of diabetes on health worldwide. As the prevalence increases, we clearly need new approaches to reduce the burden of this disease on public health.

Reference: Julie R. Ingelfinger, M.D.,  John A. Jarcho, M.D : Increase in the Incidence of Diabetes and Its Implications. N Engl J Med 2017; 376:1473-1474  April 13, 2017