New research released recently has predicted that the number of people living with diabetes Miletus disease worldwide would double to 1.3 billion by the year 2050 driven by structural racism and increasing inequality between countries. According to the comprehensive analysis conducted, every country on planet will experience surge in numbers of patient living with the disease by the end of year 2050. Currently, about 529 million people across the globe are living with the terminal ailment, which is considered to be a major cause of death especially amongst black race and lots of disability. Explaining further by the Lancet Journal as published the report added that out all the patients, 95% of them are suffering from the type 2 diabetes and it is expected to surge to 1.3billion people in less than three decades to come. Individuals who are naturally overweight considered as a ‘High Body Mass Index’ are mostly the first casualty of the dreaded disease and those that ends up living with disability.
Other factors that contribute to the disease are dietary pattern on an individual, poor exercise, smoking and excessive intake of alcohol.
According to Liane Ong, lead research scientist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) who is also the first author of one of the studies, said one factor was how diets had changed.
While speaking to AFP, she said, “Over the course of 30 years, different countries have really migrated from traditional food habits — maybe eating more fruits and vegetables, eating healthier greens — to more highly processed foods.”
A separate Lancet study revealed that even in wealthy countries such as the United States, diabetes rates were almost 1.5 times higher among minorities such as black, Hispanic, Asian or Native Americans.
Meanwhile, Study co-author Leonard Egede, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, blamed a “cascade of widening diabetes inequity.”
He said, “Racist policies such as residential segregation affect where people live, their access to sufficient and healthy food and health care services,”
“The challenge is that we don’t really see one type of intervention that’s going to fix everything”, Ong added.
He explained instead, fighting diabetes will require long-term planning, investment and attention from countries around the globe.
In its editorial publication, the Lancet said that “the world has failed to understand the social nature of diabetes and underestimated the true scale and threat the disease poses.”
“Diabetes will be a defining disease of this century,” AFP
