Study: 347 million people have diabetes

LONDON, June 26 (UPI) -- Diabetes now affects 350 million people around the world, and health officials are putting the blame on the West's fast-food culture.

An analysis published online Saturday by the Lancet indicates the problem is much more widespread than previously thought.

"Diabetes is one of the biggest causes of mortality worldwide, and our study has shown that it is becoming more common almost everywhere," Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London and one of the study's main authors, told the Observer. "It is set to become the single largest burden on world healthcare systems. Many nations are going to find it very difficult to cope with the consequences."

The three-year study, funded by the World Health Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examined blood glucose levels in 2.7 million subjects ages 25 and older from all parts of the globe. Researchers estimated 347 million people have diabetes -- far more than the 285 million indicated by a 2009 study and more than double the 153 million estimate produced by a study in 1980.

The researchers estimate 10 percent of men and 9 percent of women are diabetic. Among developed nations, blood glucose levels were the highest in the United States, New Zealand and Spain, while they were the lowest in the Netherlands, Austria and France.