More than 800 million adults are living with diabetes

Between 1990 and 2022, the number of people over the age of 18 who have type 1 or 2 diabetes has increased significantly. The increase is seen among women and men. In 2022, according to the international review, 828 million people had diabetes. Perhaps the greatest increase is among adults who have developed type 2 diabetes.

At the same time, nearly 60 percent of those over 30 do not have adequate treatment for their illness, according to the extensive review conducted in collaboration with, among others, the WHO.

Low and middle income countries has the greatest increase. In Pakistan, for example, the number of people affected has gone from 9 to almost 31 percent over that time.

– The increase in the most affected countries is mainly due to changed lifestyles with increased calorie intake and unhealthy food choices, which lead to obesity, which is a strong risk factor. Even lower physical activity may help, says Jan Eriksson, senior physician and professor of clinical diabetes research at Uppsala University, who read the study.

In several Western European countries such as Sweden, Denmark and France, however, neither a large nor a small increase can be seen. Japan and Canada are also well placed.

But it is in the low-income countries that the treatment does not reach the patients and in some of them it is 90 percent who do not have access to medicines according to the study, published in the Lancet journal. In Western Europe, for example, up to 86 percent have treatment.

Among high-income countries, the largest increase is seen in the United States, where 11 percent of women and 14 percent of men had diabetes in 2022.

In Sweden, the increase is on of new cases of type 2 diabetes has slowed, but continues for type 1.

– However, more and more people are living with both type 2 and also type 1, but this is mainly due to the fact that treatments that prevent complications have evolved and therefore people stay longer with diabetes – this is positive, says Jan Eriksson.

The researchers have used data from 175 countries and the study, according to the study, is the most comprehensive study ever made on the prevalence of diabetes.