Number of people in Turkey with diabetes rising: Expert

ISTANBUL

More people in Turkey are being diagnosed with diabetes compared with previous years, an expert has said.

Serpil Salman, the head of the Turkish Association of Endocrinology and Metabolism, said 13.7 percent of Turkey’s population in 2010 was diabetic compared with 7.2 percent in 1997.

“Turkey is one of the countries in Europe where the chronic illness is common,” Salman told state-run Anadolu Agency on Nov. 13.

Salman said one in seven adults in Turkey was suffering from diabetes. “There are 463 million diabetics in the world. If the increase in Turkey continues at this pace, in 2045, the country will be one of the top 10 countries with the highest number of diabetics,” she added.

She stressed that the country had not succeeded in reaching targets to bring the illness under control.

“Only 40 percent of type 2 and 15 percent of type 1 diabetic people’s blood sugar can be controlled,” she said.

When asked about the risk of diabetics contracting the coronavirus, Salman said the risk among them was not higher than those without any underlying health conditions.

“But diabetic people feel the virus’ effects harder. People suffering from hypertension or obesity connected with diabetes carry more risks [of suffering more severely from COVID-19],” she added.