Massive diabetes increase in China

In China, diabetes is spreading rapidly, especially among urban populations

09/04/2013

China is struggling with a veritable explosion of diabetes. The number of those affected has increased tenfold over the past 30 years. But only every third affected person is aware of his illness. A corresponding therapy receives only every fourth patient. Overall, around 22 million people in China currently suffer from diabetes. This number corresponds approximately to the population of Australia.

More and more people with diabetes in China
A new study published in the US trade magazine „Journal of the American Medical Association "concludes that China is currently experiencing an explosion in diabetes-related diseases, with less than one percent of the adult population suffering from the metabolic disorder in 1980, compared to 11.6 percent in Men (12.1 percent) are slightly more affected than women (11 percent). According to experts, 9.3 percent of the German population suffers from diabetes.

„These statistics suggest that Type 2 diabetes or adult onset diabetes could raise alarm levels among Chinese people, "the news agency quoted „AFP“ the study authors, some of them from China. This may also apply to diseases related to diabetes, such as kidney failure and cardiovascular disease, if the country does not take countermeasures, it goes on to say.

China's rapid economic development as a cause of diabetes
In 2010, the scientists examined the blood glucose levels of 98,658 representative adult Chinese adults for their study. They found that only 30.1 percent of those affected were aware of their illness. However, a treatment that was often inadequate, received only 25.8 percent. Overall, the disease was more common in urban areas than in the rural population.

Above all, the rapid economic development of the country is blamed for the diabetes explosion in China. With her prosperity in the previously poor country came and thus also obesity, lack of exercise and stress, reported Juliana C.N. Chan from the Hong Kong Prince of Wales University opposite the news agency.

However, unlike countries like the US, type 2 diabetes occurs in the Chinese without a high body mass index (BMI). While the average BMI of the US population is 28.7, the researchers calculated only a BMI of 23.7 for the Chinese as part of their study. „The booming economy has brought China a medical problem that could ruin the health system, "said Paul Zimmet, honorary president of the International Diabetes Federation and emeritus director of the Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne to the news agency.

Many people in Germany also suffer from diabetes
In Western industrialized countries, diabetes has been developing into a widespread disease for some years now, affecting more and more children. Within the framework of the so-called DEGS Health Study (Study on Adult Health in Germany) of the Robert Koch Institute, it was found that one third more people in Germany suffer from diabetes than ten years ago. Around seven percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 79 suffer from metabolic disease. The proportion of 70-79 year-olds is particularly high at 22 percent.

Diabetes is often diagnosed late because initially or only non-specific symptoms such as tiredness occur. The number of unreported cases could therefore be higher, experts say. (Ag)

Image: Michael Horn