Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, is a - TopicsExpress

Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, is a long-term illness characterised by a high sugar (or glucose) level in the blood. Someone with diabetes is either producing too little insulin or is unable to respond well to the insulin produced. In Singapore, one out of 9 people aged 18 to 69 has diabetes. That’s about 11.3% of our population or more than 400,000 people! Diabetes is the fifth most common medical condition diagnosed and one of the six top killer diseases in the country. Diabetes is a chronic disease and, if not managed well, can deteriorate steadily to cause devastating complications such as blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure, heart disease and limb amputation. Studies show that about half of patients already have diabetes-related complications at the time of diagnosis. PREVENTION & EARLY DETECTION are key to stemming the rise of diabetes. 49.4% of Singapore residents were unaware that they have diabetes. The proportion of undiagnosed diabetics was highest among the Malays (55.6%), followed by the Chinese (50.4%) and Indians (38.0%).5