Epidemiology and research advances in diabetes mellitus in China

Abstract:

Diabetes mellitus，as a common chronic disease，has become a public health problem worldwide. The prevalence of diabetes in China has become the highest all over the world. Such rapidly increasing prevalence year after year was caused by genetic factors，improvement of socioeconomic status，aging of population，and most importantly，the change of life style. In addition，the revision of diagnosis criteria of diabetes also influences its prevalence. In China，the diagnosis of diabetes has been made according to 1990 WHO diagnostic criteria of diabetes for a long time. Whether glycosylated hemoglobin（HbAlc） should be included in the new criteria is still under discussion. Diabetes as well as its complications greatly compromises the patients’ quality and expectation of life，and brings heavy burden to both the patients and social health care system. Therefore the early diagnosis and treatment of di－abetes are crucial. However，the low awareness rate，treatment rate and target rate，along with the high prevalence of diabetes reflect that the management of diabetes is in urgent need of improvement. The cooperation of patients，government，public health and medical institution is warrant to better solve this public health problem with its early diagnosis，treatment and control.