World Diabetes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

World Diabetes - Essay Example Diabetes threatens not only the health of individuals, but has also become a significant public health concern. EASD1 suggests the spread of Type 2 diabetes is so rapid that it is approaching epidemic levels. To supply adequate care to those with diabetes, and educate populations about prevention of the disease, quantifying the presence of diabetes in different populations is crucial. Diabetes is a serious illness with multiple complications and premature mortality, accounting for at least 10% of total health care expenditure in many countries. Complex methods have been developed for estimating cause-specific mortality for some conditions (AIDS, tuberculosis) but not for diabetes. Based on routine statistics, recent WHO reports estimated mortality from diabetes in the world as 987,000 deaths for the year 2002, which was 1.7% of total world mortality. Mortality attributable to diabetes may actually be much higher, because individuals with diabetes most often die of cardiovascular and renal disease. The rapid increase of diabetes worldwide is primarily a consequence of population growth, population aging, urbanization, and the increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. Many efforts have been made to explain the causes of Type 2 diabetes. While the pathogenesis of this disease is still not completely understood, it is known that both genetic susceptibility and environmental influences play a role. Diabetes has become a major health problem in many developed countries, and in developing countries the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes has increased significantly in recent years. In China, the prevalence has almost tripled within the last 15 years, from 1% to about 3%. An urbanized, more sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet are thought to contribute greatly to the increase in diabetes and obesity in all ethnic groups. For example, around 90% of all Singaporeans live in high rise government or