Global Diabetes Growth Rate Staggering: World Congress

NEW YORK - Experts speaking at the World Diabetes Congress painted a grim picture of the year 2025, when they estimate 7% of the global population will be suffering from the disease. Using a diabetes "atlas," medical leaders gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, predicted that most of the new cases will come from developing countries. All told, some 380 million people will have some form of diabetes in 20 years' time. Already, nearly 4 million people die each year from complications caused by the disease, including strokes and heart attacks. Currently, diabetes affects 246 million around the world, up from just 30 million two decades ago. Using the atlas, experts pointed out that the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East is experiencing the highest growth rate of type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes.