Around 60,000 Norwegians may have diabetes without knowing it
New calculations show that between 316,000 and 345,000 people in Norway have diabetes
The calculations have been performed by diabetes researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, NTNU, UiT Norwegian Arctic University, and Oslo University Hospital, the FHI wrote in a press release.
“It seems that the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in Norway has approximately doubled in the last 20 years,” diabetes researcher Lars Christian Mørch Stene at the FHI noted.
More people are getting diabetes
The incidence of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents has increased over time, but type 2 diabetes is mostly behind the increase in the total number of cases in the entire population.
Researchers find it problematic that the increase is so huge.
Obesity and physical inactivity could be partially to blame for the increase in the number of cases of type 2 diabetes.
But there are also a number of positive public health factors that may contribute to the increase in the number of people with diabetes.
People are living longer
Among other things, people are living longer and longer and the health service is now better at detecting diseases.
About 90% of all people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.
It is considered a lifestyle disease – the risk of developing it is reduced if you are physically active and avoid obesity.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that usually occurs at a relatively young age.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
