Diabetes – What Should You Know About This Disease?

Diabetes is not considered to be one of the diseases that most affects the lives of those living in this century, as is the case with obesity, for example. However, this health problem is one of the most common in the world, and so it is clear how dangerous and difficult to treat the dilemma diabetes can be.

The World Health Organization (WHO) considers diabetes to be a pandemic  because it affects a very large number of people. This international organization takes the matter so seriously that they have created an organization called the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The IDF has been fighting diabetes since the 1950s.

In the following, we’ll talk more about diabetes and provide information on what’s the right way to treat this common health problem – keep reading!

What kind of disease is diabetes?

Before we start talking about the treatment of diabetes, it is good to clarify what this disease is really about. Diabetes is a chronic and incurable disease that affects human metabolism.

According to the World Health Organization, it occurs when the human pancreas no longer produces enough insulin or when the body does not use the insulin it produces efficiently.

According to the IDF, insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin acts as a key factor in the body being able to get glucose from food through the blood into the cells so that it can then produce energy.

Different types of diabetes

There are three different types of diabetes:

• Type 1, or juvenile-onset diabetes

According to the World Health Organization, the cause of this type is still unknown. This includes insufficient or non-existent production of insulin in the body, which makes daily injections necessary.

This becomes called “insulin dependence”.

• Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes

This is the most common type of diabetes worldwide and is generally associated with low activity or overweight.

The main feature of the second type is the inefficient use of insulin by the body.

• Gestational diabetes

This type includes an  increase in body blood sugar levels during pregnancy.

In such a situation, blood glucose levels are much higher than normal, but still lower than those normally defined in diabetes standards. Thus, this situation is classified as its own type of diabetes.

In which countries is diabetes the most?

Diabetes is one of the most common diseases of this century.

This is because diabetes is occurring more and more around the world. However, in some countries it is higher than in others.

Here are some of the countries with the highest incidence:

• China : This country is one of the most populous, and thus its high diabetes rates are easy to understand. There are about 92 million registered cases of diabetes in China.
• India:  This is the second most populous country in the world, with about 63 million registered cases.

• United States:  Third place goes to this superpower with nearly 24 million official cases of diabetes.

These countries are thus at the top of the diabetes figures in terms of numbers when the figures are not proportional to the population. This is what changes when it comes to  the countries with the highest percentages of diabetes.

• In this case,  Micronesia  is number one, with an amazing figure of 37%. This includes people aged 20-79.

Advances in technology in the treatment of diabetes

The IDF has conducted several studies aimed at improving the quality of life of people with diabetes.

The organization has also developed a coin-sized insulin sticker that can be used to replace injections – this information can be found in a study published by the U.S. National Academy of Science.

Lead researcher Zhen Gu says this is a fast-acting sticker for diabetics. It is  easy to use and the label contains only non-toxic and biodegradable materials.