Almost half of those with diabetes don’t know they have it, according to a new study.
Researchers found 44 percent of people aged 15 and older with the chronic disease are undiagnosed, according to a study published Monday in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.
The study analyzed data from 204 countries and territories from 2000 to 2023.
“Despite improvements over the past two decades, underdiagnosis and suboptimal glycaemic management of diabetes remain major challenges globally, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries,” the authors wrote.
Lauryn Stafford, the lead author of the study, told CNN most of the people with diabetes they analyzed have type 2 diabetes.
“We found that 56% of people with diabetes are aware that they have the condition,” Stafford said, adding that just 20 percent of young adults with diabetes were aware they had the disease.
When you have type 2 diabetes, “your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in adults, but more young people are being diagnosed as well.
Roughly 830 million people across the world have diabetes, and more than half are not receiving treatment, according to the World Health Organization.
The CDC reported 38.4 million Americans, or 11.6 percent of the U.S. population, had diabetes in 2021. According to the agency, 8.7 million people aged 18 or older who had the disease were not aware of or did not report having diabetes.
“You can survive with elevated glucose levels for many, many years,” Stafford explained. “People end up getting diagnosed with diabetes only at the point where they have complications.”
Symptoms of diabetes include urinating a lot, being very thirsty and/or hungry, losing weight without trying, having blurry vision, having numb or tingling hands or feet, feeling exhausted, having very dry skin, having slow-healing sores and having more infections than usual, according to the CDC.
Anyone who has symptoms of diabetes should be tested for the disease through blood tests administered by a doctor, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
