Type 2 Diabetes

In Italy

The number of persons with type 2 diabetes is rapidly growing, both in developed Countries, and in Countries that have recently started their economic development. This steep rise in the number of cases diagnosed and of those estimated is especially due to:

• changes in the quantities and quality of nutrition (people eat more and worse)
• lower energetic consumption (work requires less effort, people do not move about on foot and stay still for long hours)

these changes to one’s lifestyle often associated with overweight and obesity, probably trigger a hereditary genetic tendency to develop diabetes.
It is estimated that at present in Italy:

• 3 million persons have type 2 diabetes and have been diagnosed and are followed up: that amounts to 4.9% of the population
• 1 million persons have type2 diabetes but haven’t been diagnosed with it: 1.6% of the population
• 2.6 million persons have problems keeping their glycaemia within normal values, a condition that in the majority of cases is a prelude to the development of type 2 diabetes. We are talking about 4.3% of the population
• In practice, today 9.2% of the Italian population has problems keeping their glycaemia under control.
• It is estimated that in 2030 the persons diagnosed with diabetes will be 5 million.

 
Type 1 Diabetes

In Italy

Type 1 diabetes can be considered the most frequent of rare pathologies. Each year, 84 cases are uncovered for every one million persons in Italy (slightly less than 5 thousand cases). Certain Italian regions, first of all Sardinia, have rates of incidence greater than the European average. It is estimated that in Italy, approximately 250 thousand persons have type 1 diabetes.
The number of persons with type 1 diabetes grows, especially because it is by now possible to guarantee to those who follow treatments a life expectancy comparable to that of the general population. However, the incidence, or in other words the risk, of developing type 1 diabetes is on the rise.