Diabetes Around the Globe Essay

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DIABETES

Global health issue exploration

As obesity becomes an increasingly serious problem worldwide, diabetes has likewise become equally problematic, given that the two conditions are interrelated. "Fueled by rapid urbanization, nutrition transition, and increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the epidemic has grown in parallel with the worldwide rise in obesity" (Hu 2011). Unless the chronic disease of type II diabetes can be better managed and contained, there are potentially severe and long-lasting consequences for the world as a whole. It is of particular concern that diabetes is becoming a health issue in the developing world, an area where under-nutrition (versus over-nutrition) was once considered to be of greater concern. The purpose of this paper will be to give an overview of the condition and its consequences for sufferers and for healthcare providers on a global level, as well as suggest possible sources of treatment

Diabetes is no longer a disease of affluence. According to the International Diabetes Federation the problem of diabetes "affects at least 285 million people worldwide, and that number is expected to reach 438 million by the year 2030, with two-thirds of all diabetes cases occurring in low- to middle-income countries. The number of adults with impaired glucose tolerance will rise from 344 million in 2010 to an estimated 472 million by 2030" (Hu 2011). In fact, diabetes is increasingly a disease of the poor, who have impeded access to healthy foods and places to exercise and who must rely upon processed, convenience foods as sources of sustenance. The Westernization of the developing world has also disrupted indigenous ways of life, with a particularly serious impact upon persons with specific genetic profiles.

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Although diabetes is a crisis nearly everywhere, it does not impact all populations to the same degree or in perfect correlation with the rise in obesity.

Diabetes: The New Epidemic in Asia

On example of how previous assumptions of what constitutes traditionally-accepted high-risk populations that have diabetes is changing is the explosion of diabetes in Asia and India. These countries have proven to be particularly vulnerable because of the rapid explosion of the middle class and the increased prevalence of sedentary middle-class lifestyles. Also, there are indications that certain genetic factors may make Asian populations more vulnerable to diabetes. "Asians develop diabetes at younger ages, at lower degrees of obesity, and at much higher rates given the same amount of weight gain" as Caucasians (Hu 2011).

At the present time, "Asia accounts for 60% of the world's diabetic population," an extraordinary development in a region where famine was considered of higher risk (Hu 2011). "In 1980, less than 1% of Chinese adults had the disease. By 2008, the prevalence had reached nearly 10%" while "in urban areas of south India, the prevalence of diabetes has reached nearly 20%" (Hu 2011). Excessive caloric intake is considered the primary culprit of the proliferation of diabetes. However, certain specific types of foods and beverages have been identified as particular culprits in insulin-resistance (the primary metabolic hallmark of type II diabetes).

For example, sugar-sweetened soda consumption has been associated with an increase in metabolic syndrome and diabetes, as has fast food consumption (given that fast foods contain higher amounts of non-satiating yet highly palatable sugar and salt). "In China alone, the number of McDonald's outlets grew.....

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