382 Million People Worldwide Living with Diabetes

As November marks American Diabetes Month, promoting awareness and understanding of the consequences, management and possible prevention of type 2 diabetes, shocking statistics show how many are affected by this debilitating disease.

The International Diabetes Federation estimates that worldwide, one person is killed by diabetes every six seconds and more than 382 million people are currently suffering from the health issue.

The health organization also notes that the number of diabetes cases has climbed by 4.4 percent over the past two years in the United States and more than 5 percent for the world's population.

"We haven't seen any kind of stabilizing, any kind of reversal," Leonor Guariguata, an epidemiologist and project coordinator for IDF's Diabetes Atlas, published every two years, according Bloomberg Businessweek. "Diabetes continues to be a very big problem and is increasing even beyond previous projections."

Many individuals may also be carrying pre-diabetic conditions in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not quite high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. This can create serious complications down the road that may lead to health problems later in life, including various cardiovascular issues.

Type 2 diabetes can result from such pre-diabetic conditions, and though genetic factors may contribute to this disease, more and more individuals are becoming at a higher risk due to poor diet and exercise habits.

Fortnately, health officials from almost 200 countries are working on the health issue. In May, nine targets will be adopted to help reduce average daily salt consumption by up to 30 percent in 2025 via an effort to fight against cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

This brings good news for Asian countries, who have recently seen an upward trend regarding the health issue. For more than half of cases in Asian and the Western Pacific in general, it's estimated that 90 to 95 percent of diagnoses are type-2. More than 98 million people in China alone are now affected by the disease, as well . That's a 9 percent increase from 1980 according to the health organization. 

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