• August 14, 2020
• In South Africa
• By James Gomaz

Diabetes

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Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin.

Facts and figures:

1. 1 in 11 adults (20-79 year) have diabetes and it is 463 million people in the world
2. 1 in 2 people with diabetes are undiagnosed it is 232 million people
3. 1 in 5 diabetes are in age over 65 year (136 million people)
4. 10% of global health expenditure are spent in Diabetes (USD 760 billion)
5. 1 in 6 live birth is affected by hyperglycemia in pregnancy, 84% of which have gestational diabetes
6. 3 in 4 (79%) of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries
7. Over 1.1 million children and adolescent below 20 year have diabetes
8. 1 in 13 adults (20-79 year) have impaired glucose tolerance test (374 million people)
9. 2 in 3 people with diabetes live in urban areas (310.1 million people)

READ believes that diabetes prevention and management can be improved with strong health systems, effective policy frameworks and informed citizens.

The interventions and lifestyle changes could improve the health outcomes of people living with or at risk of diabetes such as regular workouts and sports. For type 1 diabetes it is recommended to have healthy lifestyle, preventing over-eating and sedentarism. For type 2 diabetes the prevention and delay is possible through lifestyle modification or administration of some pharmacological agents. Diabetes in pregnancy the regular check up should be part of antenatal appointment.