Nearly One In Two Chinese Have Diabetes Or Are Likely To Get It, Making Country’s Epidemic The World’s Biggest

Nearly one in two Chinese have diabetes or are likely to get it, making country’s epidemic the world’s biggest

China is facing the largest diabetes epidemic in the world, with around 11 per cent of its population suffering from the metabolic illness and nearly 36 per cent pre-diabetic, according to a US study.
The survey, which included 170,287 participants and was conducted in 2013, was analysed with the assistance of Linhong Wang from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Researchers measured levels of fasting plasma glucose of each participant. Those with levels of 126 milligrams per decilitre or higher were defined as diabetic, while those with levels between 105 and 126 mg/dl were defined as pre-diabetic. People who are pre-diabetic have higher than normal blood sugar levels and without lifestyle changes are at high risk of suffering diabetes.
Hyperglycemia is a result of two anomalies – a malfunction of the pancreas which creates insulin, or the resistance of the body to this hormone. Among the diabetic population in China, 36.5 per cent were aware of their diagnosis and 32.2 per cent were receiving treatment. Among those being treated, 49.2 per cent had adequate glycemic control.
Tibetan and Muslim Chinese had significantly lower prevalence of diabetes compared to the majority Han population (14.7 per cent for Han Chinese, 4.3 per cent for Tibetan Chinese, and 10.6 per cent for Muslim Chinese).
The adult diabetic rate in China of 10.9 per cent is close to that of the United States – 9.3 per cent according to 2014 figures recorded by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Continue reading

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2017 Update on the Diabetes Market in Asia

Introduction
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are around 430 million diabetics worldwide, a number that will grow to 650 million by 2040. 60% of diabetics are Asian, and diabetes is currently the 8th leading cause of death in region. By 2030, diabetes will become the 6th leading cause of death in Asia. Furthermore, diabetes increases the risk of other health issues, including stroke and heart disease.
The diabetes device market was worth approximately $15 billion worldwide in 2016, with the Asian market accounting for $3 billion. The Asian diabetes device market, which includes products such as lancets, insulin pumps, and glucose monitoring devices, is growing at a rate of over 8% annually. In 2016, the Asian diabetes drug market was worth over $8 billion of the $25 billion global diabetes drug market. The diabetes drug market is expected to double by 2030 with the rising number of diabetics. Diabetes drugs include insulin, but also medications that help with other functions such as breaking down sugar and decreasing the liver’s sugar production. The global diabetes drug market is also growing at an annual rate of over 6%, with China’s diabetes drug market growing the fastest at around 10% annually.
Regional Markets
China
China has the world’s largest diabetic population. While China accounts for one-fifth of the global population, one-third of all adult diabetics are Chinese. In 2016, an estimated 110 million Chinese adults had diabetes, and an estimated 150 million Chinese adults will have diabetes by 2040. Diabetes in China is primarily cause Continue reading

Less Sleep Tied to Diabetes Risk in Children

Children who sleep less may be at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, researchers report.
Earlier studies found a link between shorter sleep and diabetes in adults, but the connection has been little studied in children.
British researchers studied 4,525 9- and 10-year olds from varying ethnic backgrounds. On average, their parents reported they slept 10 hours a night, with 95 percent sleeping between eight and 12 hours.
The study, in Pediatrics, found that the less sleep, the more likely the children were to have higher body mass indexes, higher insulin resistance and higher glucose readings. All three are risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.
Over all, increasing weekday sleep duration by an hour was associated with a 0.2 lower B.M.I. and a 3 percent reduction in insulin resistance. The reasons for the link remain unclear, but the researchers suggest that poor sleep may affect appetite regulation, leading to overeating and obesity. This observational study could not establish cause and effect.
Still, the senior author, Christopher G. Owen, a professor of epidemiology at St. George’s University of London, said that for children, the more sleep the better — there is no threshold.
“Increasing sleep is a very simple, low-cost intervention,” he said. “We should be doing our utmost to make sure that children sleep for an adequate amount of time.” Continue reading

Chinese Medicine Promising In Preventing Diabetes Among Those At-Risk

A combination of Chinese herbal medicines could help to keep pre-diabetes from becoming full-blown Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Plus, the effects the herbal mixture — called Tianqi — on reducing diabetes risk was similar to that of the diabetes drugs metformin and acarbose, noted researchers from the University of Chicago.
“Patients often struggle to make the necessary lifestyle changes to control blood sugar levels, and current medications have limitations and can have adverse gastrointestinal side effects,” study researcher Dr. Chun-Su Yuan, M.D., Ph.D., said in a statement. “Traditional Chinese herbs may offer a new option for managing blood sugar levels, either alone or in combination with other treatments.”
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, included 389 people in China, 198 of whom who were assigned to take either a capsule of the Tianqi Chinese herb mixture three times a day before meals for a year, and 191 of whom were assigned to take a placebo pill. The herb mixture, which is already being sold in China in the pill form as a diabetes medication, includes the following herbs: Astragali Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Trichosanthis Radix, Ligustri Lucidi Fructus, Dendrobii Caulis, Ginseng Radix, Lycii Cortex, Ecliptae Herba, Galla Chinensis, and Corni Fructus.
All of the study participants received lifestyle education for a month at the start of the study, and also consulted with nutritionists throughout the study.
By the end of the year-long period, 36 people who took the Tianqi pill developed diabetes and Continue reading

Africa: Does Nigeria Have the Most People With Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa?

A top drug firm executive said Nigeria registers the most new cases of diabetes in the region and that 5 million people in the country are living with the disease. Do the claims get a clean bill of health?
Diabetes is a growing concern for Nigeria, a drug multinational executive said ahead of a recent summit on the chronic disease in Lagos.
"About three years ago South Africa and Ethiopia tended to have more diabetes than Nigeria," said Dr Philip Ikeme, the medical director of the Nigeria, Ghana and eastern African arm of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. Among Sanofi's products are the insulin shots used to manage diabetes.
"Now Nigeria has the highest incidence of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa." (Note: Incidence refers to the number of new cases in a given period, say a month or a year, while prevalence is the total number of people in a population with a disease in a specific time period.)
"In terms of actual numbers we are looking at five million people whom we know have diabetes," Ikeme said, adding that the actual number was "much more".
Does the data support Ikeme's claim?
We examined the numbers.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by the body's inability to produce required amounts of insulin - the hormone that regulates blood sugar - or to efficiently use the insulin it produces, according to the World Health Organisation. These are called type 1 and type 2 diabetes respectively.
In 2015, it was the 6th leading cause of death in lower and middle income countries. WHO notes that over the past decade, the prevalence of diabetes has risen faster in low Continue reading