Diabetes is more dangerous than HIV

According to the latest statistics, the average life expectancy of people infected with HIV is not much lower than that of normal people. People with type 2 diabetes have their life expectancy reduced by 10 years.

This information was given by Prof. Dr. Thai Hong Quang, President of the Vietnam Endocrinology and Diabetes Association, at the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Science Festival 2018 held at Hue Central Hospital on the morning of March 31.

According to Mr. Quang, diabetes is called "The tsunami that destroys global health" by the World Health Organization (WHO) because the rate of disease and complications of the disease is increasing.

Mr. Quang said that if there are no effective preventive measures, it is predicted that by 2040, there will be 642 million people worldwide with diabetes.

In Vietnam, according to recent research, the rate of diabetes in adults is 5.42%.

The mortality rate of people with diabetes is higher than that of people with HIV. Photo: Nhat Linh

63.6% of patients do not know they have diabetes and do not seek treatment, leading to the disease developing silently in the body.

These are alarming figures because diabetes is a dangerous disease, treatment and care are very expensive and economically complicated.

According to Professor, Dr. Tran Huu Dang, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Endocrinology and Diabetes, people with diabetes have a risk of stroke twice that of normal people, along with a risk of cardiovascular disease four times higher.

Diabetes can also cause blindness, kidney failure, hand and foot ulcers leading to amputation of limbs.

But according to Mr. Dang, the positive thing is that up to 70% of type 2 diabetes cases can be prevented or slowed down by following a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and increasing physical activity and exercise.

"Many people are scared when they hear about HIV, but they don't know that the rate of deaths from diabetes each year is higher than the rate of deaths from HIV. In particular, the rate of people with diabetes is getting younger. So young people, you should put down your beer glasses and cigarettes and stand up to exercise, jog, play sports...", said Prof. Dr. Thai Hong Quang.