By 2040, the number of persons with type 1 diabetes is predicted to double globally, with adults in low- and middle-income nations accounting for the majority of the new cases.
The projection gives estimates for type 1 diabetes rates, related mortality, and life expectancy for 201 countries in 2021. It was created using data that was gathered in the new Type 1 Diabetes Index.
The prevalence of type 1 diabetes is high and rising globally. To enable improvements in care and outcomes, improved surveillance is crucial, especially in adults who make up the majority of people with type 1 diabetes, the authors said. “In the coming decades, there is a chance to save millions of lives by improving the standard of care (including ensuring that everyone has access to insulin and other essential supplies) and raising awareness of the symptoms and signs of type 1 diabetes so that all countries have a 100% diagnosis rate.
Type 1 diabetes causes one in five deaths in people under the age of 25.
The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal published the new findings. The T1D Index Project database was published Sept.
The model predicts that 8.4 million people will have type 1 diabetes in 2021, with a fifth coming from low- and middle-income nations. An additional 3.7 million died prematurely and would have been added to that count had they lived. In 2021, it is predicted that one in five people who died from type 1 diabetes were under 25 and had undiagnosed diabetes.
“It is intolerable that in 2022, 35,000 people will worldwide pass away within a year of exhibiting symptoms without receiving a diagnosis. Additionally, there is still a significant gap in life expectancy for persons with type 1 diabetes, with the poorest nations being the hardest hit “said Chantal Mathieu, MD, an endocrinologist based in Belgium and senior vice-president of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
The model estimates that between 13.5 and 17.4 million individuals would have the illness by 2040, with low- and lower-middle-income nations seeing the biggest proportional increase from 2021. Adults account for the bulk of both incident and prevalent cases of type 1 diabetes, with those 20 years of age and older accounting for 62% of the expected 510,000 new diagnoses globally in 2021.
