Diabetes mellitus in India likely to hit 79.4 million by 2030: Doctors 

New Delhi: The incidence of diabetes
mellitus, a chronic, lifelong condition that affects the body’s ability to use
the energy found in food, is likely to increase 79.4 million in India, a 15 per
cent increase from the current 31.7 million, said doctors.

They also said apart from India the
cases are also rising in other parts of the world with the figures likely to
touch 366 million by 2030 from 171 million a decade ago.

According to doctors, pregnant women
of today’s era are highly prone to suffer from Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
(GDM), if they have obesity before marriage and also are above 25 years of age.

“Gestational diabetes can be very
hard on women as the burden of diabetes on women is unique, because it can
affect both mothers and their unborn children. Diabetes can cause difficulties
during pregnancy such as a miscarriage or a baby born with birth defects,”
said Rajesh Khadgawat, Additional
Professor of Endocrinology at All India Institute of Medical
Sciences(AIIMS).

According to AIIMS, GDM has increased
by 16 to 27 per cent in several race, ethnicity groups during the past 20
years. Explaining the condition better, Ajay Aggarwal, endocrinologist from
Fortis Hospital said, “The placenta(a flattened circular organ in the
uterus of pregnant) supports the baby as it grows. Hormones from the placenta
help the baby develop. But these hormones also block the action of the mother’s
insulin in her body. This problem is called insulin resistance. Insulin
resistance makes it hard for the mother’s body to use insulin. She may need up
to three times as much insulin.”

In another study, Centres for Disease
Control and Prevention has said the prevalence of gestational diabetes is as
high as 9.2 per cent.

Gestational diabetes starts when body
is not able to make and use all the insulin it needs for pregnancy. Without
enough insulin, glucose cannot leave the blood and be changed to energy.

IANS