type 2 diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes
The scale of the issue
By 2025, the number of individuals estimated to be affected by type 2 diabetes will increase by 65% to reach an estimated 380 million individuals worldwide1.
Europe has one of the highest prevalence of diabetes with 55.4 million sufferers – 8.5% of Europe’s population2. For type 2 diabetes, this equates to approximately 49.8 million sufferers (based on the calculation that 90% of diabetes cases are type 23).
It is predicted that one in 10 Europeans aged 20-79 years will have developed diabetes by 20302. For type 2 diabetes, this equates to approximately 9% of the population (based on the calculation that 90% of diabetes cases are type 23).
A role for diet and lifestyle
Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes, NIDDM, or maturity onset diabetes) is characterized by high blood glucose together with insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. The target tissues for insulin (muscle, liver and fat-tissue) become insensitive or resistant to the action of insulin. This means that more insulin is needed to obtain the same response from the target tissues.
Type 2 diabetes is primarily influenced by lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking.
