Thursday, June 15, 2006
June 15, 2006
Number of diabetes cases soars worldwide
Growing trend in China and India especially worrying, say experts
WASHINGTON - THE number of people suffering from diabetes globally has soared in the past two decades.
It has gone from 30 million to 230 million, claiming millions of lives and severely taxing the ability of health-care systems to deal with the epidemic, according to data released by the International Diabetes Federation recently.
While the growing problem of diabetes in the affluent United States has been well documented, the federation's data show that seven of the 10 countries with the highest number of diabetics are in the developing world.
China now has the largest number of diabetics over age 20, around 39 million people, or about 2.7 per cent of its adult population, according to the federation.
India has the second-largest number of cases with an estimated 30 million people, or about 6 per cent of its adult population.
Other countries have higher rates of diabetes than either China or India, but the federation's experts say rising diabetes rates in the large, rapidly industrialising nations are especially worrying because of their huge populations.
In some countries in the Caribbean and the Middle East, the percentage of diabetic people ranged from 12 to 20 per cent; the highest rate of 30 per cent was posted in Nauru, an island in the South Pacific.
In some of the world's poorest countries, the disease is a quick death sentence.
While Americans can live for many years with the disease, a person in Mozambique who requires injections of insulin can expect to live just a year; in Mali, such people survive about 30 months.
There are many factors driving the growth in diabetes worldwide, but most experts agree that changes in lifestyle and diet are the chief culprits, in addition to genetic predisposition.
As developing countries industrialise rapidly, people tend to do work involving less physical activity. At the same time, the availability of food that is cheap but high in calories becomes more common.
The combination causes weight gain, which leads to greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.
The other form, Type 1, is responsible for only 5 to 10 per cent of cases and is believed to stem almost entirely from genetic factors.
'Diabetes is one of the biggest health catastrophes the world has ever seen,' said Dr Martin Silink, president-elect of the International Diabetes Federation. -- NEW YORK TIMES
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Oh, woe is me!
By the way, what I have is Type 1, the insulin-dependent type. So it's genetic okay, not because I sit in front of the TV all day and eat unhealthy food and don't exercise. =p
Living with diabetes (5 years now) is a strange balance of what is good for me versus what I want. Now that is strange because I should naturally want what is good for me, so there is no apparent conflict between the two. But there is. For example, I want to eat chocolates, but it's not good for me. I want to eat ice-cream, but it's not good for me. I want to snack randomly and frequently, but it's not good for me. And on the flip side, there are also many things that are good for me that I don't want to do. Such as exercising (my excuse would be there is nobody to exercise with so it's boring =p). And checking my blood glucose level (an extremely troublesome task), which is ideally suppose to be 4-6 times daily, while in reality it's a miracle that I check it once a week.
I consider myself a slacker in terms of managing my diabetes. It's no small miracle that I am still able to maintain a fairly good HbA1c, considering how little effort I put into controlling my diet and checking my sugar levels. HbA1c, by the way, is an amazing standard that can check your average blood sugar level over the past 3 months or so.
Perhaps I need more accountability, someone to confess that chocolate cake, or that ice-cream indulgence, or the potato chips while WoW-ing to. Someone to nag me to check my sugar levels? Ah, someone to buy diabetic-friendly food for me (wink wink =D).
Or I should just have more self-motivation and take full responsibility for my own health. >_<
On a happier note, I realise that receiving random, unexpected presents are an immense joy. I didn't think it's a very big deal to have picked her up or sent her home (and I still don't), so I didn't expect anything "in return", so to speak. I was walking around trying to spot baby photos and such, but alas found nothing particularly interesting, except the "Model student of the year" award. The nephew had a devilish look on him, and that was confirmed when she later related his, shall we say, less-than-"healthy" conversational topics. Kinda missed having little kids around the house, my cousins being more or less grown up now. I wish my sisters would hurry up and produce a nephew or a neice for me! Haha!
Did I mention that she looks absolutely terrific in the white dress and matching shoes, handbag and watch (hee hee)? Like, seriously pretty. I didn't think much of her in a dress (think NJChoir costume) before, but whoa. I am beginning to be a wee bit jealous of the boyfriend. Oops! =D
I guess I should spread the joy around. Unexpected presents, I mean.
I am staring at blue and cream-white cards with scrawled handwritting.
I am staring at folded foolscap papers, one with a particular stain from a certain chemical during practical.
I am staring at black words on a CD or five, and the not-so-little green notebook.
Maybe it's time to pick up the pen and paper again.
{/12:07 PM}
me