Researchers found a 69 percent increase in the rate of the disease in Ontario between 1995 and 2005 — far beyond the 60 percent global predicted increase for 2030 and above rates projected for Canada by then, reported by Reuters Canada.
Lorraine Lipscombe of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto and colleagues examined health-care databases for Ontario, the most-populated and ethnically diverse Canadian province.
“In view of this linear growth in prevalence, more than 10 percent of the adult population of Ontario will be diagnosed with diabetes before 2010,” they wrote in their report, published in the Lancet medical journal.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that causes serious health complications including renal (kidney) failure, heart disease, stroke, and blindness. Approximately 14 million Americans (about 5% of the population) have diabetes. Unfortunately, as many as one-half are unaware that they have it.
Research continues on ways to prevent diabetes and to detect those at risk for developing diabetes. While the onset of Type I diabetes is unpredictable, the risk of developing Type II diabetes can be reduced by maintaining ideal weight and exercising regularly. The physical and emotional stress of surgery, illness, pregnancy, and alcoholism can increase the risks of diabetes, so maintaining a healthy lifestyle is critical to preventing the onset of Type II diabetes and preventing further complications of the disease.