History Of Diabetes Mellitus : An Overview

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in India has been growing by leaps and bounds. The statistics in this regard are quite alarming. It is obvious that in a country like India , the rising prevalence of diabetes with its complications is likely to produce severe constraints on health care budget in future. This explosion of diabetes in India has been viewed with serious concern by the WHO and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). The global prevalence of type 2 diabetes is expected to double in the period 2000–2025 and may reach a level of almost 300 million people1. It is calculated that there are approximately 33 million adults with diabetes in India . This number is likely to increase to 57.2 million by the year 2025. A national urban diabetes study conducted in six major Indian cities covering all the country’s regions showed that the average prevalence of diabetes in urban adult is 12.1%, the rates ranging from 9.3% to 16.6%2. A series of epidemiological studies carried out by the Diabetes Research Centre in Chennai showed that the prevalence of diabetes had steadily increased among urban Indian adults from 5.2% in 1984 to13.9% in 20003.