BRUSSELS, June 13 (UPI) -- The number of diabetics in the world has increased more than seven times in the past 20 years, the International Diabetes Federation says.
The group said that there are now about 230 million people suffering from the disease, up from 30 million, The New York Times said.
Many of the countries with the highest rates of diabetes are in the Caribbean and the Middle East. Nauru, an island in the South Pacific, is believed to have the highest rate of all.
China has about 39 million adult diabetics, 2.7 percent of the population. In India, about 6 percent of adults have diabetes.
The increase is almost entirely in type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle disease brought on by changes in work patterns and diet. More people are sedentary and have high-calorie diets.
The group, in a report released Saturday, said that poverty turns the disease from a chronic one into a killer. In Mozambique, diabetics who need insulin injections typically die within a year.
"Diabetes is one of the biggest health catastrophes the world has ever seen," said Dr. Martin Silink, the federation's president-elect.
