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HCMC’s diabetics rise by 300% in 10 years, quadruple world level

HCMC’s diabetics rise by 300% in 10 years, quadruple world level

Wednesday, November 13, 2013, 12:30 GMT+7

The number of diabetics in Ho Chi Minh City has increased by 300 percent in ten years, four times higher than the world’s rate of increase, director of the city Nutrition Center has warned.

>> Over 5% of Vietnam’s population are diabetics >> Cases of diabetes rise by 211% after 10 yrs The warning was released by Dr Do Thi Ngoc Diep, the center’s director and deputy head of the city Steering Committee for Diabetes Prevention and Control, at a meeting held in the city on Tuesday to mark World Diabetes Day (November 14). Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest number of diabetics in the world, especially in its major cities. In HCMC, the number of diabetics at the age of 30-69 has sharply soared from 3.8 percent in 2002 to as much as 11.4 percent last year. Nationwide, the increase rate was lower, at 211 percent. Meanwhile, the world’s average rate of increase was only 72 percent last year. In Southeast Asia, the rate was 91 percent the same year. Diabetes has posed a heavy burden on Vietnam, costing the country VND7,836 billion (US$369.62 million) yearly on average in medical examinations, treatment, and care for diabetic patients. Dr Diep blamed the situation on the rapid pace of urbanization and economic growth that have triggered lifestyle changes that are harmful to health. At an earlier meeting also held by the center in May to discuss ways to implement the 2013 plan for diabetes prevention and control, experts reported that 5.7 percent of the country’s population have diabetes while the rate of people with pre-diabetes and glucose tolerance disorder is 12.8percent. Of Ho Chi Minh City’s population, 6.5 percent are diabetics and 12.8 percent suffer from glucose tolerance disorder, the highest percentages in the country. Diabetes, often referred to by doctors as diabetes mellitus, describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the inflicted has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Patients with high blood sugar will typically experience polyuria (frequent urination) and they will become increasingly thirsty (polydipsia) and hungry (polyphagia). There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes, which requires different treatment methods.

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