15 per cent of India's urban population is diabetic: Time

New Delhi, July 2 (UNI) Diabetes is spreading on an alarming rate, and the prevalence of this disease in India has gone up from eight per cent in 1989 to about 15 per cent of the population today, according to the Time magazine.

In 2000, about 151 million people around the world had diabetes; but by 2025, that number could double,it said. Over the past two decades, the prevalence of the disease in China has jumped from 0.5 per cent to five per cent, according to the magazine.

It has specially mentioned the desperate battle being waged against this relentless medical foe, by Dr Ashok Jhingan, Director, Delhi Diabetic Research Centre.

Every day 50 to 60 patients file through Dr Jhingan's two clinics in New Delhi; nine of them will find out for the first time that they have the disease. "Deceptively nonthreatening at first, diabetes can lead to heart disease, amputations, blindness, kidney failure and other complications if not properly treated", it warns.

Public-health experts are alarmed by the speed with which diabetes has reached epidemic levels in India, China, Cambodia, parts of Africa and many island nations in the Pacific.

A rising standard of living and greater exposure to a Western diet rich in sugars and empty calories are certainly to blame for this alarming growth, alongwith a more sedentary life-stayle, it says. "It appears that a change in diet and a few extra pounds are enough to trigger the disease in many Asian and African populations".

"It's not simply that Western food is causing diabetes but that different body types, influenced by genes, respond to the same food differently, says Dr William Hsu of Joslin Diabetes Center.

Excess glucose levels build up gradually in the blood, and insulin, which normally keeps glucose levels in check, can't keep up. After years of this metabolic treadmill, diabetes can develop, he says.

The International Diabetes Federation, which works with the WHO to promote diabetes education, is proposing a new set of guidelines that would set specific criteria for detecting diabetes in different populations.

Despite the sobering statistics, doctors believe that this epidemic could be controlled at a low cost. Studies in the U S, Finland and China showed that many of those at risk of developing diabetes can bring their blood sugar down to normal levels without, medication by changing their diet and becoming more physically active.In the U S, those who made similar changes reduced their risk of developing diabetes by nearly 60 per cent, it says.

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