The world is currently in the middle of Global Diabetes Epidemic, a crisis that is threatening the lives of millions.

 

The World Health Organization reports more than 425million diabetics worldwide, contributing to millions of annual deaths and representing the largest cost of most healthcare systems, either through costs of care or costs of no care. 

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Diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar (glucose). It can also occur when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Some effects of diabetes include loss of lower limbs, heart disease, vision loss, and kidney injury. If blood sugar levels are not controlled, diabetes can seriously damage other organs and systems in the body over time.

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There are two main types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed during childhood or young adulthood. It’s the result of an immune system dysfunction.

Type 2 diabetes is often acquired during later adulthood. It’s typically the result of poor diet, inactivity, obesity, and other lifestyle and environmental factors.

 

Other types of diabetes include:

gestational diabetes, which causes elevated blood sugar in 3 to 8 percent of pregnant women in the United States

prediabetes, a condition defined by higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that lead to a very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the near future

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Many Least Developed and Developing nations lack the basic healthcare infrastructure, personnel, and training to manage their respective diabetes epidemics. While the World Health Organization provides insight to the problems relating to the Global Diabetes Epidemic, unfortunately without management, funding, and operational initiatives, they are not able to effectively support eliminating the problem.