12/11/2023
Diabetes is a chronic disease. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar. Hyperglycemia, or elevated blood sugar, is a common consequence of out-of-control diabetes and can cause serious damage to many of the body's systems over time, especially nerves and blood vessels.
In 2014, 8.5% of adults over the age of 18 had diabetes. In 2019, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths, and 48% of diabetes deaths occurred before the age of 70. An additional 460,000 kidney disease deaths are caused by diabetes, and elevated blood sugar contributes to approximately 20% of cardiovascular disease deaths (1).
Between 2000 and 2019, deaths from diabetes increased by 3%. Diabetes mortality increases by 13% in low- and middle-income countries.
By comparison, the global probability of dying from any of the four main non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease or diabetes) among people aged 30 to 70 years fell by 22% between 2000 and 2019. .
