‘Prediabetes detected in 1 in 3 persons tested in Mumbai’

MUMBAI: Every third person who tested their blood sugar in Mumbai has prediabetes, according to a five-year data analysis of 2.9 lakh patients by a national laboratory.
As the name suggests, prediabetes is a precursor or an early warning system to diabetes. While the latest International Diabetes Federation report has pegged the number of Indian adults affected by diabetes at 74 million, the prediabetes burden is high at 40 million too.
Endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi, chair of IDF-South East Asia region, said, “Apart from diabetes, India has two big burdens. One is prediabetes and the other is asymptomatic diabetes. A solution would be to start diabetes screening from 25 years of age as against the present 30 years.” A group of endocrinologists have made this suggestion to the central health officials.
While there is no estimate with local authorities about the incidence of prediabetes, private laboratory SRL Diagnostics released a report on 2.9 lakh samples received for glycosylated/glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) test from January 2017 till September 2021 in Mumbai that gives an idea: 37% of all these samples tested were positive for diabetes and 37% tested positive for prediabetes.
In the 31-45 age group, the report said over 40% samples tested prediabetic and over 23% were found to be diabetic, proving that the onset of diabetes is earlier among Indians.
SRL laboratory’s Dr Kshama Pimalgaonkar said, “One in six people with diabetes in the world is from India. What is more alarming is that a staggering number of the population is also living with prediabetes, which can be prevented from turning into a chronic condition.”
Another survey of 5,000 people done by health-tech company Fitterfly showed people under 40 years are at the highest risk of prediabetes.
“Of the millions who have prediabetes in India, 70% of them could convert into Type 2 diabetes over the next five to 10 years,’’ said Dr Arbinder Singhal of Fitterfly. His survey found 74% of the respondents were obese or overweight, 59% had a family history of diabetes and 44% were not active as per World Health Organisation’s recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. “Weight loss of 8 to 12kg in the at-risk population will cut the risk of diabetes by 50%,” he added.