Health promotion for non-communicable diseases: diabetes

Introduction

This is the fourth article in a series covering health promotion for non-communicable diseases, looking at:

This article focuses on type 2 diabetes mellitus, a chronic condition caused by insulin resistance and impaired secretion, leading to increased levels of glucose in the bloodstream (Patel et al, 2024). Type 2 diabetes can affect people of all ages, and was estimated to affect 529 million people as of 2021, a figure that is predicted to increase by more than 10% by 2050 to 1.31 billion people (Heshmati, 2024). Around 50% of people living with diabetes are undiagnosed (Lambrinou et al, 2019), and at least half of those reside in lower-income countries (Caro-Bautista et al, 2020). Serious complications can arise from type 2 diabetes, including: 

• blindness
• cardiovascular disease
• lower limb amputation
• chronic kidney disease (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2024;