Diabetes is a set of metabolic diseases that produce ina high blood sugar disorder in insulin secretion or insulin action or both. Chronic high blood sugar Diabetes is associated with long-term damage, dysfunction, and failure of various organs, Especiallyespecially the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels. Several pathogenic processes are involved in the development of diabetes. ThisThese range Fromfrom autoimmune destruction of β-cells in the pancreas with consequent insulin.
In the second half of the 20th century, it became obvious that a relentless increase in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), affecting the economically affluent countries, is gradually atllictingalsotheaffecting the developing world. This chapter shows the threat that the T2DM epidemic represents to mankind, with the astonishing recent discoveries on the role of obesity and of body fat in this metabolic disorder. T2DM is very high in over 10% of adults in the USA, Switzerland and Austria. Prevalence is low in Norway, China and in Iceland. Predictions of epidemiologists for the first third of the 21st century claim up to 2.5 times increase int hein the prevalence of DM in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, India, the rest of Asia and in the Latin America. In China the number of patients with DM will doublein2030double by 2030. In the economically advanced countries, the increase will be about 50% inby 2030. Diabetes is one of the biggest health problems in Saudi Arabia. This country has been ranked among the top 10 countries in the world regarding the prevalence of diabetes. The number of diabetes patients in Saudi Arabia increased from 3.83 million in 2016 to 5.95 million in 2021. It is expected to reach 9.23 million by 2027.