21 Crore Indians—quarter of global cases—had diabetes in 2022, finds Lancet study

About 82.8 crore people are estimated to be living with diabetes in 2022 globally, according to an analysis published in the Lancet journal.

India's share is over a quarter, which is about 21.2 crore people living with diabetes in 2022, the study said. Another 14.8 crore were in China, while 4.2 crore lived in the US, 3.6 crore in Pakistan and 2.2 crore in Brazil, the researchers found in the study published on the eve of World Diabetes Day observed every year on November 14, PTI reported.

The study says that  that the global rate of diabetes (type 1 and 2 combined) in adults doubled from approximately 7 per cent to about 14 per cent between 1990 to 2022.

The number, 82.8 crore, is over four times the number of people living with the disease in 1990, with the largest increase in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), researchers associated with the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC) said.

NCD-RisC is a global network of over 1,500 researchers and practitioners coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). It provides information on risk factors for non-communicable diseases across countries.

13 Crore adults have untreated Diabetes

The study also found that almost one third of the 44.5 crore adults (13.3 crore) with untreated diabetes lived in India in 2022.

"Our findings suggest there is an increasing share of people with diabetes, especially with untreated diabetes, living in low- and middle-income countries," said author Jean Claude Mbanya, University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon.

The WHO previously estimated that around 42 crore people have diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease involving blood sugar levels, which can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves and other organs if untreated.

Most people with untreated diabetes will not have received a diagnosis, and therefore increasing detection of diabetes must be an urgent priority in countries with low levels of treatment, he said.

Undiagnosed diabetes has been linked with complications such as diabetic retinopathy – when high levels of blood sugar damage the eye's retina (which is sensitive to light) – which can potentially cause vision loss and blindness.

“Given the disabling and potentially fatal consequences of diabetes, preventing diabetes through healthy diet and exercise is essential for better health throughout the world,” author Ranjit Mohan Anjana, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, India, was quoted in PTI report. Anjana, who contributed to the research, said the findings highlighted the need for more ambitious policies restricting unhealthy foods and making healthy ones more affordable.

The study also reveals that people living in north America, Australasia, central and western Europe, and parts of Latin America and East Asia and the Pacific saw a significant improvement in treatment rates for diabetes from 1990 to 2022.

(With inputs from agencies)