Diabetes in Perspective

The combination of type 2 diabetes and obesity (known as diabesity) is the largest epidemic the world has yet faced. What HIV/AIDS was in the last 20 years of the 20th century, diabetes, obesity and their consequences will be in the first 20 years of the 21st century.... read more

In the last few decades, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled globally. The most recent 2010 global predictions by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, suggest that currently there are 285 million people with diabetes worldwide. However, this may well be an underestimate and in 2011 the International Diabetes Federation estimated there were approximately 366 million diabetics globally. In Australia alone, there has been a 300% increase in diabetes over the last 30 years.

Diabetes is a chronic disease, which through complications, can impact seriously on the quality of life of individuals and their families through premature illness and death. Because it predominantly affects people who are still in the workforce, it has a major impact on both individual and national productivity.

This series will provide a historical and future perspective of diabetes and its devastating complications and will also address diabetes management and prevention.