Diabetes now touches one in seven adults worldwide
Diagnosed cases jumped from about 200 million people in 1990 to 828 million in 2024—already past older forecasts for 2045. Type 2 drives more than ninety-five percent of that load. Roughly two million deaths a year are tied to the disease, and more than half of those living with it do not know they have it.
Diabetes mellitus is a family of endocrine disorders marked by sustained high blood sugar from too little insulin, cells that ignore insulin, or both. Classic clues include excessive thirst, urination, and hunger—the three Ps—plus weight loss and blurred vision, though about half of people may show no early symptoms. Type 1 is autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells and usually needs insulin from the start. Type 2, far more common, is managed with medicines such as metformin or newer agents including semaglutide and tirzepatide, plus lifestyle change. Gestational diabetes can appear in pregnancy and typically fades after delivery.
Acute crises include diabetic ketoacidosis, especially in type 1, with nausea, abdominal pain, acetone breath, and deep Kussmaul breathing, and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state in other settings. Insulin therapy itself can tip patients into hypoglycemia, from sweating and tremor to seizures or coma. Over years, high sugar damages large and small vessels: diabetes roughly doubles cardiovascular risk, and about seventy-five percent of deaths in people with diabetes involve coronary disease. Stroke and peripheral artery disease join that macrovascular list of long-term harm.
Microvascular injury hits eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults; yearly eye exams are advised. Nephropathy feeds more than half of U.S. dialysis caseloads. Neuropathy steals pain sensation and helps explain diabetic foot ulcers—the top cause of non-traumatic lower-limb amputation. Acanthosis nigricans can flag insulin resistance on the skin. The epidemic’s scale is not only clinical; it is a slow vascular accounting problem written across decades of undiagnosed sugar in aging populations.
Source: Diabetes
