A recent study in the Lancet, states 101 million Indians, or 11.4% of the population, are estimated to have diabetes.
According to a study commissioned by the health ministry, pre-diabetes may be present in 136 million people, or 15.3% of the population.
Diabetes type 2 is the most prevalent type of the disease.
People who cannot produce enough insulin or respond to the hormone appropriately have high blood sugar levels.
The most recent study, which was released in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, is regarded as the first to quantify the burden of non-communicable illnesses in the nation by thoroughly covering every state.
Researchers said they found that the prevalence of diabetes in India’s population was much higher than previously estimated. The WHO had estimated 77 million people suffering from diabetes, and nearly 25 million were pre-diabetics, at a higher risk of developing diabetes in near future.
“It is a ticking time bomb,” Dr RM Anjana, lead author of the study and managing director at Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, told The Indian Express newspaper.
“If you have pre-diabetes, conversion to diabetes is very, very fast in our population; more than 60% of people with pre-diabetes end up converting to diabetes in the next five years,” she said.
According to a recent study in the Lancet, 101 million Indians, or 11.4% of the population, are estimated to have diabetes.
The Madras Diabetes Research Foundation and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) collaborated on the ten-year study, which included 113,000 people over the age of 20 from every state in India.
Using demographic information from the most recent National Family Health study, the government’s most thorough home study of health and social factors, data collected in 2008 was projected for 2021.
Kerala (25.5%), Goa (26.4%), and Puducherry (26.3%) had the highest rates of diabetes.
The study foresaw a high rise in diabetes in states with lesser prevalence, like as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Also diabetes was more frequent in urban than rural areas, the study found.
“Changing lifestyles, improved standards of living, migration to cities, erratic working hours, sedentary habits, stress, pollution, change in food habits and easy availability of fast food are some of the reasons why diabetes is rising in India,” Rahul Baxi, a consultant diabetologist at Bombay Hospital said.