According to fresh reports from Canada, as many as 3 million Canadians now suffer from the disease, as many as one in ever 11 adults. The report indicates the rise and rise of diabetes, and its powerful effect on the Canadian healthcare system .
The report indicates that diabetes has soared following an increase in obesity, an aging population, a growing ethnic population who are at greater risk of diabetes, and improved treatments that mean existing diabetics are living for longer. On the plus side, deaths from the disease have dropped by 25 per cent in the last decade.
According to a researcher at the Julia Macfarlane Diabetes Research Centre of the University of Calgary, David Lau, “These statistics should worry every Canadian because our health system just can’t handle this epidemic of diabetes.”
The report was published in the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, and indicates that 90 per cent of diabetics in Canada are type 2. The research was limited to Ontario, but is expected to be relevant throughout Canada.
Dr. Lau concluded: “The incidence rate is hitting the roof. This has serious implications for health planning 10 and 20 years down the road. So, this study should be setting off alarm bells for policy-makers.”

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