Abstract
In a Perspective, Juliana Chan and Andrea Luk discuss the impact of diabetes in countries around the world, setting the scene for a special issue on diabetes prevention comprising discussion pieces and research reports.
Highlights
Somewhere in Asia, a 60-year-old man is admitted to an overcrowded medical ward with heart failure. He had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when presenting with coronary heart disease at the age of 50 and, despite undergoing several coronary interventions, his cardiometabolic risk factors have never been controlled owing to poor drug adherence
Doctors may have no more than 5 minutes to explain to their patients the nature of diabetes and the importance of self-discipline in diet, behavior and medication adherence, while deciding which drugs to prescribe based on little clinical information
They realize that many patients with hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, or a family history could benefit from screening for diabetes
Summary
The many challenges of diabetes prevention and management resonate with patients and their families, and with health care providers, around the world. Of a global population of 7.3 billion, 8.8% of adults (about 415 million) currently have diabetes, and a further 6.7% (318 million) have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Of these people, three-quarters are in low-income and middle-income countries [1]. In many developed and developing countries [1], 1 in 3 people has obesity with or without the metabolic syndrome, substantially increasing their lifetime risk of diabetes, cardiovascular–renal disease, and cancer. 10% of people with IGT develop diabetes, and 3%–10% of people with diabetes develop comorbidities including cardiovascular–renal disease, cancer, and dementia [3,4]
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