Rates of diabetes increasing globally

New research has highlighted the dramatic increase in rates of type 2 diabetes around the world. The study, by scientists at Imperial College London, found that rates have risen worryingly over the last few years.
For instance, it is now thought that one in 10 (23.6 million) adults in the United States suffer from the metabolic condition, with the country experiencing the biggest rise in the last 30 years for men and the second biggest rise for women, after Spain. It is claimed that this numbers will increase to 1 in 3 American adults with diabetes during the next 40 years.
There are also now believed to be nearly 80 million US adults with pre-diabetes, with levels of blood sugar being high but not sufficient to be diagnosed as full-blown diabetes. Over a third of US adults who are older than 20 are said to have pre-diabetes. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that diabetes is now the seventh leading reason for death in the US, which adds up to about USD174 billion in health-related costs.
Majid Ezzati, who led study, commented “This is likely to be one of the defining features of global health in the coming decades.”