While an alarming increase in metabolic diseases is observed around the world, Professor Samy Hadjadj, endocrinologist at Nantes University Hospital, returned to the factors increasing the risk of presenting prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
- “Compared to 2021, the number of people with diabetes is expected to increase by 6% in 2030 and 7% in 2045. The majority of these cases concern type 2 diabetes.”
- This chronic disease resulting in hyperglycemia is one of the characteristics of metabolic syndrome, a group of disorders whose key component is prediabetes.
- Obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, hypertension, a genetic predisposition, age, an unbalanced diet and a lack of physical activity are risk factors for developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
Body composition, blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These are the main axes around which metabolic health revolves. “For several years, we have seen a sharp increase in metabolic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes. This constitutes a real public health issue,” declared Samy Hadjadj, professor of endocrinology, diabetology and metabolic diseases, hospital practitioner at Nantes University Hospital, during a press conference held on November 7. Indeed, according to the latest estimates, 61 million Europeans live with diabetes, or one in 11 adults. In France, this represents 4 million people, and 2 to 3 million people have prediabetes. “Compared to 2021, the number of people with diabetes is expected to increase by 6% in 2030 and 7% in 2045. The majority of these cases concern type 2 diabetes.”
Type 2 diabetes, one of the characteristics of metabolic syndrome
As a reminder, type 2 diabetes is marked by chronic hyperglycemia, due to insufficient insulin and/or resistance to its action. This pathology, which often progresses silently, is frequently discovered when complications appear, particularly cardiovascular ones. Symptoms include fatigue, blurred vision, numbness of the extremities, dry mouth, slow healing and recurrent skin infections, severely affecting patients’ quality of life.
Type 2 diabetes is one of the hallmarks of metabolic syndrome. Long asymptomatic in certain people, this syndrome is a group of disorders which is characterized by the simultaneous presence of at least three of the following five criteria: abdominal fat, elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure or fasting hyperglycemia. A key component of metabolic syndrome? Prediabetes. This is a condition where blood sugar levels are abnormally high without reaching the diagnostic thresholds for diabetes.
Prediabetes, type 2 diabetes: why do they occur?
“We know: age is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, which is more common after the age of 45. A genetic predisposition, that is to say when a close relative (father, mother, brother or sister ) is or has been affected by it, can also contribute to the occurrence of this chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia. But diabetes is also often linked to lifestyle.explained the doctor. Indeed, a sedentary lifestyle, an unbalanced diet and a lack of physical activity, i.e. less than 30 minutes per day, can be to blame. High blood pressure, obesity and being overweight are also responsible for the onset of type 2 diabetes. A high waistline, which gives a simple image of the excess fat accumulated in the abdomen, is also a risk factor.
