Burden of Diabetes, Untreated Diabetes Increased From 1990 to 2022
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Nov. 15, 2024 -- The global burden of diabetes and untreated diabetes increased from 1990 to 2022, according to a study published online Nov. 13 in The Lancet.
Bin Zhou, Ph.D., from Imperial College London, and colleagues used data from 1,108 population-representative studies with 141 million participants aged 18 years and older to examine trends in diabetes prevalence and treatment from 1990 to 2022.
The researchers found that an estimated 828 million adults had diabetes in 2022, representing an increase of 630 million from 1990. The age-standardized prevalence of diabetes increased from 1990 to 2022 in 131 and 155 countries for women and men, respectively, with a posterior probability of more than 0.80. Low-income and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean had the largest increases. In 2022, 445 million adults (59 percent) aged 30 years or older with diabetes did not receive treatment, a 3.5-fold increase from 1990. Diabetes treatment coverage increased from 1990 to 2018 in 118 and 98 countries for women and men, respectively, with a posterior probability of more than 0.80. Some countries from Central and Western Europe and Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Costa Rica), Canada, South Korea, Russia, Seychelles, and Jordan had the largest improvement in treatment, while most countries in sub-Saharan Africa; the Caribbean; Pacific island nations; and South, Southeast, and Central Asia had no increase in treatment coverage.
"The current variations in treatment were largely related to the extent of diabetes underdiagnosis, which means that improving case detection is a prerequisite to increasing treatment coverage," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted November 2024
Read this next
Myocardial Fibrosis Linked to Ventricular Arrhythmia in Male Endurance Athletes
TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 -- Myocardial fibrosis is independently associated with the onset of ventricular arrhythmia in male veteran endurance athletes, according to a study...
Risk for Dementia, Ischemic Stroke, Mortality Lower With GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in T2D, Obesity
TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 -- For adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity, glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are associated with a lower risk for dementia, stroke...
Digital Model Based on Noninvasive Factors Shows Accuracy for Identifying IBD in Children
TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 -- A model based on noninvasive tests shows high accuracy as a digital tool for the rapid identification of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.