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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 1 | Page : 1-2 |
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Chronicling advances in diabetes: The time is now
Ambika G Unnikrishnan1, Anil P Pandit2
1 Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Chellaram Diabetes Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2 Department of Medical Administration, Chellaram Diabetes Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| Date of Submission | 07-Oct-2021 |
| Date of Acceptance | 20-Oct-2021 |
| Date of Web Publication | 07-Jan-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Ambika G Unnikrishnan
Chellaram Diabetes Institute, Lalani Quantum, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Bavdhan, Pune - 411 021, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/cdrp.cdrp_1_21
How to cite this article:
Unnikrishnan AG, Pandit AP. Chronicling advances in diabetes: The time is now. Chron Diabetes Res Pract 2022;1:1-2 |
How to cite this URL:
Unnikrishnan AG, Pandit AP. Chronicling advances in diabetes: The time is now. Chron Diabetes Res Pract [serial online] 2022 [cited 2023 Mar 29];1:1-2. Available from: https://cdrpj.org//text.asp?2022/1/1/1/335254 |
According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimates for year 2021, there are 537 million people with diabetes in the world, just in the age group of 20-79 years.[1] In 2045, this number is expected to increase to 783 million.[1] That represents a 46% increase, and this is likely to be associated with an increased number of people with diabetes-related complications, which will cause health expenditure to rise. While most of the global burden of diabetes is due to type 2 diabetes, it is important to note that other forms of diabetes, including type 1 diabetes, may also lead to complications.
In 2007, the United Nations adopted a resolution on diabetes, calling for policies to prevent and treat this disease, thus recognizing the global pandemic.[2] Strategies at the individual, community, and national levels have been deemed important, and these include high-quality clinical research, community-level awareness activities, and national programs for diagnosis and treatment. Despite these measures, diabetes seems to have increased in prevalence at a rapid pace. For instance, the IDF estimates that since the year 2000, when 4.6% of the global population had diabetes, the value had risen to 10.5% in 2021.[1]
Naturally, for a complex disease like diabetes, no single strategy will help. Population-level health strategies must go hand in hand with newer diagnostic and therapeutic tools. And at this point where the prevalence of diabetes is set to rise higher and higher, one factor that is most critically required is research. Epidemiology, basic research, and clinical studies are continuing to and will continue to open new doors to help the millions of people suffering from diabetes and its complications. Finally, research into early diagnosis and prevention of diabetes is important, and probably, these strategies should go hand in hand with prevention of childhood obesity.
There is good news too.[3] In certain high-income countries, there is a decline in the prevalence of certain diabetes-related complications such as ketoacidosis, cardiovascular diseases (CVD), lower extremity amputations, and diabetes-related deaths. However, such significant trends are reportedly not available for other diabetic complications such as end-stage kidney disease, neuropathy, and non-CVD deaths; the decline in CVD-associated deaths in diabetes, it has been suggested, could lead to an increase in these aforementioned complications.[3] Moreover, despite the decline in complications, people with diabetes continue to have a significantly higher risk of adverse outcomes.[3] With the clock ticking, and diabetes and its complications rising continuously, this is an appropriate time to intensify the scale of research and development in diabetes care. It is also important to apply research and place it into a clinical perspective, so that this information may help in a definitive strategy against diabetes. Finally, it is most necessary to chronicle this knowledge for posterity and make it accessible to all. Our diabetes journal is just a beginning toward this aim. Our articles will be peer-reviewed and open access.
Today, diabetes knows no boundaries, and affects people of all ages, nationalities, and communities. The enormous health burden of diabetes is juxtaposed with the disparities in the availability, accessibility, and affordability of diabetes management in various parts of the world. What is needed is both basic and clinical research with potential to be translated into better health care that is pragmatic, affordable, and yet of high quality. Recognizing this, the World Health Organization has rightly asked to speed up the global action against diabetes, focusing on affordable innovation and improving diabetes care to the needy populations.[4] A global approach to defeat diabetes must necessarily be multidisciplinary.[5] We, at the Chronicle, will recognize this approach as being very important. By bringing together publications by basic scientists, public health experts, clinical researchers as well as healthcare practitioners, we aim to chronicle and disseminate information that could have a beneficial IMPACT on the health of people with diabetes.
| References | |  |
| 1. | International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 10th edn. Brussels, Belgium: 2021. Available from: https://www.diabetesatlas.org [Last accessed on 2021 Dec 08].  |
| 2. | Del Prato S. A call to action-the UN resolution on diabetes. Int J Clin Pract Suppl 2007;157:1-4. |
| 3. | Harding JL, Pavkov ME, Magliano DJ, Shaw JE, Gregg EW. Global trends in diabetes complications: A review of current evidence. Diabetologia 2019;62:3-16. |
| 4. | |
| 5. | McGill M, Felton AM, Global Partnership for Effective Diabetes Management. New global recommendations: A multidisciplinary approach to improving outcomes in diabetes. Prim Care Diabetes 2007;1:49-55. |
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