Lancet study: Over 100 million Indians are living with diabetes

11.4% of India’s population, or some 101 million people, are living with diabetes, a decade-long study recently published in Lancet estimates. Moreover, a survey commissioned by the health ministry found 15.3% of the population, or 136 million individuals, could be pre-diabetic.

Globally, diabetes affects about one in 11 adults, with the condition normally split into type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes involves the immune system. It attacks the body’s insulin factories so there is not enough of the hormone to bring down increased blood sugar levels.

However, type 2 diabetes, or the most prevalent type in India, largely involves poor lifestyle as body fat can affect the way insulin normally works.

The recent study published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology comprehensively covers every Indian state to assess the country’s burden of non-communicable ailments. The prevalence of the condition in India’s population was much higher than earlier estimated.

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Dr R M Anjana, managing director at Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre and lead author of the Lancet study, called it a ticking time bomb, The Indian Express reported. Over 60% of pre-diabetic Indians end up getting diabetes in the next five years, she added.

The decade-long study involved 113,000 participants over the age of 20 from every state. It was conducted by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

While Goa, Kerala, and Puducherry saw the highest prevalence of diabetes, states like Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar saw a sharp rise in the condition. Moreover, urban areas sheltered more diabetics than rural, the study found.

Rahul Baxi, a consultant diabetologist at Bombay Hospital, blamed a number of factors for the increase in the number of Indians with diabetes, including changing lifestyles, easy availability of fast food, migration to cities, sedentary habits, erratic working hours, and pollution.

Dr Baxi said diabetes was “no more a disease of the affluent or of those living in cities.” A good number of patients also come from smaller towns, he added. He highlighted the alarming prevalence of pre-diabetes and raised concerns over several people remaining undiagnosed for a long time.