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Number of diabetes patients soars in Ontario |
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Written by Theresa Maher
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Friday, 02 March 2007 |
A new report has revealed that the number of people suffering from diabetes in the Ontario has surpassed the percentage that the World Health Organization had predicted by 2030.
Most of the people were suffering from Type-2 diabetes, which is caused by obesity, poor diet and a lack of exercise. Developed countries all over the world are facing this problem of epidemic as their populations have a rich diet and exercise less.
According to Lorraine Lipscombe of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, over 8.8 percent of the population above 20 years of age was suffering from diabetes in 2005. In 1995 it was around 5.2 percent.
The total rise in the population suffering from diabetes in the 10 years from 1195 is a whooping 69 percent, which is 9 percent higher than the 60 percent rise globally as predicted by WHO. The timeframe set by the world’s leading health agency is by 2030.
In a report published in the Lancet medical journal, the doctors from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences said, "In view of this linear growth in prevalence, more than 10 percent of the adult population of Ontario will be diagnosed with diabetes before 2010. If similar trends are occurring throughout developed countries, then the size of the emerging diabetes epidemic is far greater than anticipated."
In an accompanying commentary, The Lancet said that these new estimates had the potential to upset World Health Organization calculation. "WHO has predicted a 39 percent rise in the worldwide prevalence of diabetes between 2000 and 2030, but (the study) indicates that this figure might be a gross underestimation," it added.
Type-2 diabetes is mainly concerned with lifestyle choices as opposed to Type-1, which is also called juvenile diabetes. In the former, the body does not utilize insulin properly leading to rise in blood sugar levels.
Type-2 diabetes has the potential to cause complications like heart disease and blindness.
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