Diabetes Patients by 2050: According to study, the rate of adult diabetes will more than double by 2050 due to fast rising obesity rates and widening health disparities. According to recent projections, the population will increase from 529 million in 2021 to over 1.3 billion in 2050. Over the following 30 years, there won’t be any countries where the prevalence of diabetes is predicted to decrease. The Lancet and The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journals both published the findings.
Experts Warn of Global Public Health Threat
The data, according to experts, is concerning because diabetes is outperforming most diseases internationally and poses a serious threat to both individuals and healthcare systems. “Diabetes remains one of the biggest public health threats of our time and is set to grow aggressively over the coming three decades in every country, age group and sex, posing a serious challenge to healthcare systems worldwide,” said Dr Shivani Agarwal, of the Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Separately, the UN has estimated that by 2050, there would be around 9.8 billion people on the planet. That implies that between one in seven and one in eight individuals will have diabetes at that time. The research authors wrote: “Type 2 diabetes, which makes up the bulk of diabetes cases, is largely preventable and, in some cases, potentially reversible if identified and managed early in the disease course. However, all evidence indicates that diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, primarily due to a rise in obesity caused by multiple factors.”
Structural Racism and Geographic Inequity Amplify Diabetes Rates and Health Consequences
The authors claimed that “geographic inequity” and structural racism suffered by minority ethnic groups worldwide were escalating rates of diabetes, disease, illness, and death. People from marginalised areas have worse blood sugar control, a lower quality of life, and a shorter life expectancy. They are also less likely to have access to necessary medications like insulin. Global diabetes disparity has increased as a result of the pandemic. Particularly among racial and cultural minorities, people with diabetes had a twofold increased risk of dying and experiencing a serious infection with Covid-19. The study shows how racism and unfairness have widespread, pervasive consequences that have disparate effects on diabetes prevalence, care, and outcomes worldwide. Marginalised groups felt the negative effects of public awareness and policy, economic development, access to high-quality care, managerial innovations, and sociocultural norms deeply and will continue to do so for decades, it was discovered.
Racist Policies and Structural Factors Fuel Disparities in Health Outcomes
“Racist policies such as residential segregation affect where people live, their access to sufficient and healthy food and healthcare services,” said co-author Leonard Egede of the Medical College of Wisconsin. “This cascade of widening diabetes inequity leads to substantial gaps in care and clinical outcomes for people from historically disenfranchised racial and ethnic groups, including Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people.” According to the research, structural factors in people’s homes and workplaces have long-lasting, transgenerational detrimental consequences on diabetes outcomes everywhere over the world. Dr Alisha Wade, a co-author and an associate professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, said: “It is vital that the impact of social and economic factors on diabetes is acknowledged, understood and incorporated into efforts to curb the global diabetes crisis.” Diabetes UK has previously said that an increase in type 2 cases is being caused by the large percentage of overweight or obese persons (approximately 64% of adults in England). Both in places with higher levels of deprivation and among those under the age of 40, the disorder is growing more prevalent. Age, family history, ethnicity, and weight were among the “multiple and complex” risk factors for type 2 diabetes listed by the organisation.
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