Farrukh Iqbal.
Global epidemic of Diabetes Mellitus - an overview.
Proceeding Shaikh Zayed Postgrad Med Inst Jan ;17(2):99-106.

Diabetes Mellitus is defined as a clinical syndrome characterized by persistent hyperglycemia due to relative or absolute deficiency of insulin. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to dreadful complications that cause physical, emotional and economical burden on the individual as well as on the society. In 1995, more than 135 million people (4.0%) had diabetes mellitus worldwide, in 2000 it increased to 146 million, in 2015 it will rise to 215 million which is predicted to rise to almost 300 million (5.4%) by 2025. It is estimated that there will be about 42% increase in developed countries but it will be up to 170% increase in developing countries, which is a menace to face in the future. It is therefore right to say that diabetes mellitus is the most common non-infectious disease occurring globally. In Pakistan, 5.54 million people had diabetes with a prevalence of 19% in 1995 but in 2000 about 6.99 million people had diabetes with a prevalence of 4.66 %, however it is estimated that in 2025, it will be 14.5 million with a prevalence of 6.76%. Pakistan will be the fourth country in the world with diabetes by 2025 after India, China and the USA respectively. Therefore, diabetes has emerged as a major health problem in Asia indicating the urgent need for planning prevention programs for it. This is a review article.

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