Global diabetes rate has doubled in last 30 years: study

The percentage of adults who have diabetes globally has doubled over the last 30 years, according to a new study published in the journal Lancet on Thursday.

In 1990, about 7% of adults worldwide suffering from the endocrine disease that results in the body not producing enough insulin to balance blood sugar levels. The study found that that number had jumped to 14% by 2022.

This means that 200 million were diabetic in 1990, compared with 800 million today. These numbers include both Type 1 diabetes, which typically begins in childhood, and Type 2, which occurs in adulthood and is driven by obesity and poor diet.

Risk, treatmeant gap widening between developed and developing countries

The report showed that while diabetes has fallen in some countries, such as Japan, Canada, France, and Denmark, it has steadily risen in developing countries.

"The burden of diabetes and untreated diabetes is increasingly borne by low-income and middle-income countries," the authors wrote.

Citing the specific example of Pakistan, the study found that in 1990, about one tenth of women in the country had diabetes. Today, it is about one-third.

The treatment gap is also widening, the report said. About three out of five adults with diabetes, some 445 million people, were not receiving treatment for the disease in 2022. About one third of this group came from India alone. In sub-Saharan Africa, only about 5 to 10% of adults with diabetes had gotten any treatment.

Complications from untreated diabetes include "amputation, heart disease, kidney damage or vision loss, or in some cases, premature death," said senior study author Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London.