More than 1 billion people are projected to have diabetes by 2050

By Linda Searing, Special to The Washington Post

The number of people worldwide with diabetes is projected to more than double in the next three decades, reaching 1.3 billion by 2050, according to research published in the Lancet.

The researchers found that 529 million people had diabetes in 2021 and that the climb in diabetes numbers would increase the prevalence of the disease from 6 percent of the world's population to nearly 10 percent by 2050. The study's findings are based on the analysis of data from more than 27,000 sources in 204 countries and territories.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 37 million people in the United States have diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease that develops when a person's blood sugar (glucose) level is too high. Ideally, the body converts most of the food you eat into glucose and releases it into your bloodstream, and your pancreas releases insulin, a hormone, to help get the glucose into your cells for energy.

For people who have diabetes, however, the body may make little or no insulin (Type 1 diabetes) or may not make or use insulin properly (Type 2), leaving too much glucose in the bloodstream. Over time, this can lead to serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage and vision loss.

The researchers found that about 96 percent of people worldwide who had diabetes in 2021 had Type 2, noting that the increasing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes worldwide is "primarily due to a rise in obesity." They wrote that "the continued global spread of diabetes presents a massive public health challenge" for policymakers, health-care professionals and patients

By Linda Searing, Special to The Washington Post