Illustrative stock photo (source: Sme)
Altogether 345,000 people were diagnosed with diabetes in Slovakia last year, with the most patients being women. The number of diabetics keeps increasing, the TASR newswire reported.
While the number of diabetics in 2015 increased by 6,056 compared with the previous year, in comparison with 2006 it was higher by 36,041, according to the National Health Information Centre (NCZI). The clinics registered 21,909 newly diagnosed diabetics last year.
“In 84.5 percent of cases it was type 2 diabetes, which was revealed in case of patients over 50 years of age,” NCZI informed, as quoted by TASR, adding that type 1 diabetes was diagnosed in 6.7 percent of cases. “The most newly-diagnosed diabetics were among people aged 30-34.”
More than 90 percent of people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus had type 2 of the disease. It occurs mostly in adulthood and old age, especially in the case of patients with higher weight and a sedentary lifestyle. Diabetes type 1 is typical mostly for younger people, and was diagnosed in 7.3 percent of patients.
Altogether 1,649 women suffered from pregnancy diabetes, caused by hormonal changes, up by 197. This has been the highest number since 2006, according to NCZI.
While the number of patients helped by insulin and oral antidiabetics increased compared with previous years, the number of those treated by lifestyle measures, like the reduction of weight, more physical activity and ceasing bad habits, is decreasing. In the case of children and youth, insulin treatment prevails as it is necessary especially for diabetes mellitus type 1, TASR wrote.
