According to a study published Sept. 4 in JAMA, nearly 12 percent of Chinese adults have diabetes and the prevalence of antecedent diabetes is about 50 percent, according to a 2010 study based on a nationally representative sample of adults. According to the article’s background information, “Non-communicable chronic diseases have turned out to be the leading cause of death and burden of disease worldwide. It is estimated that in 2010, 34.5 million people died globally from NCDs, reflecting a significant increase in the situation since 1990. The death rate from diabetes doubled during this period, and the number of deaths from diabetes worldwide rose to 1.3 million in 2010. In addition, diabetes is a major risk factor for ischemic heart disease and stroke – which together are estimated to have caused 12.9 million deaths worldwide in 2010.” ”The prevalence of diabetes has increased significantly in recent decades, and it has now reached epidemic proportions in China. in 1980, the prevalence of diabetes in the Chinese population was less than 1 percent. In the next national surveys conducted in 1994 and 2000-2001, the prevalence of diabetes was 2.5% and 5.5%, respectively. The most recent national survey, conducted in 2007, reported a prevalence of 9.7 percent, representing an estimated 92.4 million adults in China with diabetes.” Yu Xu, Ph.D., from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China, along with other colleagues who participated in the 2010 China NCD Surveillance Project, conducted a study to investigate the prevalence of diabetes and glycemic control in the Chinese adult population. The researchers used a multistage, probability sampling design to conduct a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of 98,658 adult Chinese in 2010. Plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c concentrations were measured in all study participants after an overnight fast of at least 10 hours; those who did not report a history of confirmed diabetes underwent a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test. Diabetes and antecedent diabetes were defined according to the 2010 American Diabetes Association criteria; and hemoglobin A1c concentrations <7.0% were considered to be adequately controlled for blood glucose. The researchers found that the overall prevalence of diabetes in the Chinese adult population was estimated at 11.6 percent; 12.1 percent for men and 11.0 percent for women, with an estimated prevalence of 8.1 percent for newly detected diabetes. "The prevalence of diabetes was higher in both male and female urban residents than in rural male and female residents. In addition, the incidence of diabetes increases with age in both men and women; men younger than 50 years of age have a higher incidence, while women older than 60 years of age also have a higher incidence. In addition, the incidence of diabetes increases with economic development and increases among those who are overweight and have obesity." The prevalence of antecedent diabetes among Chinese adults is estimated at 50.1%: 52.1% for men and 48.1% for women. Rural residents have a slightly higher prevalence of prodromal diabetes than urban residents, especially men. In addition, the prevalence of prodromal diabetes was higher in less economically developed areas and in overweight and obese populations. The authors also found that for the Chinese population as a whole, the percentage of diabetics who knew their status was 30.1%. Only 25.8 percent of all diabetics were treated for diabetes, and of those who were treated, only 39.7 percent had their blood sugar properly controlled. These data suggest that diabetes may have reached an alarming level for the Chinese population as a whole, and that without an effective nationwide intervention, China may experience a pandemic of diabetes-related complications, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease, in the near future," the researchers wrote. " These findings demonstrate the importance of treating diabetes as a public health issue in China.