Scientists discovered a high diabetes prevalence in China.
Based on the latest survey, China has the highest diabetes prevalence on the planet, and scientists predict that the situation will not get any better.
Around ten percent of Chinese adults have diabetes, and roughly fifty percent of the entire Chinese population lives with prediabetes, according to the statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Experts are concerned because the diabetes prevalence in the 1980s was around one percent. They believe that these rates were influenced by the China’s economic development during the past thirty years.
People have started consuming more sugary drinks and fast food. Moreover, those who consume processed foods every day have an elevated risk of becoming overweight or obese. It is a common fact that obese people are more likely to develop diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, strokes, heart attacks, and brain disorders.
In addition to this, Alzheimer’s disease is also known as type 3 diabetes. It means that all starts with bad food. Based on the estimates, China invests around $50 billion in diabetes treatment every year.
This means roughly 13 percent of the capital spent by the country on public health care. More precisely, eighty percent of all diabetes care expenditures are spent on dealing with diabetes complications.
Although this chronic condition is incurable, it can be controlled through healthy diets, physical exercises, medications, and insulin injections. However, the high diabetes prevalence in China originates from the fact that most people are unaware of the fact that they are living with this condition.
Just 35 percent of all patients have access to proper medication compared to 50 percent in Japan, and 63 percent in the United States. Type 2 diabetes is usually triggered by obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy diets. This condition accounts for 90 percent of all diabetes cases in the country, whereas Type 1 makes up for just ten percent.
According to Dr. Maarten Hendriks, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Vice President, “many patients with diabetes are not aware of it; these patients usually get diagnosed when they have their first microinfarction.”
This lack of treatment and delayed diagnosis caused around 1.3 million death last year, based on the estimates from the International Diabetes Foundation. Health officials are doing their best to address this issue and to raise awareness about the high diabetes prevalence in China.
Image Source: The Bolton News
