Health: WHO Announces Diabetes Cases Have Quadrupled Since 1980
The World Health Organization (WHO) released new alarming information about a disease that is primarily attributed to the kind of lifestyle people are embracing right now. According to the health agency, the number of people who are living with diabetes has disturbingly "quadrupled" since 1980.
The estimate is that the number is now around 400 million, with the usual culprits like population growth, obesity, and aging as the primary driving forces. The U.N. supported agency also said, via CNN, that 1.5 million were killed by diabetes in 2012, while 2.2 million people also died as a result of having high blood glucose levels, which in turn can lead to complications like cardiovascular diseases.
The information came from WHO's first Global Diabetes Report for this year, adding that in order to handle this issue the world has to take on the disease head on. They recommend that a "whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach" is needed.
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Data in the research show that in 1980, there were only 108 million adults who suffered from the disease, but it increased to 422 million in 2014. The blame, according to the agency, has to be put on man's rapidly increasing appetite and consumption for food and drinks that are high in sugar. Hence, it is not a coincidence that the world also has seen a huge increase in the number of people who are becoming obese.
They are calling for governments to improve programs and measures intended to at least reduce the risk factors linked to diabetes and in the process develop a more comprehensive treatment and care program.
Quite interestingly, the disease is reportedly affecting more people in the lower and middle income brackets compared to those who are classified as wealthy. The increase in the number of those who suffer from it are obvious in the regions of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
