Type 2 diabetes – an unresolved disease across centuries contributing to a public health emergency

Abstract

Aims: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a global epidemic. However, T2DM is not a new, 21stcentury disease. Different populations have been struggling with this disease across a number of centuries. The question lies as to why humanity has never succeeded in keeping it in check over the course of its history. Materials and methods: In this review, the history of T2DM and its evolution throughout the ages are revisited. The review then investigates the growing burden of T2DM across the past fourteen years within the European continent, while comparing this epidemic with the obesity burden. Results: Various explanations for the emergence of this public health epidemic were explored ranging from lifestyle factors, high sugary food and drink, disrupted sleep pattern to obesity. Over a fourteen-year period, an evident steady incline in both T2DM and obesity prevalence rates across Europe was evident. Conclusion: It is essential for public health officials and researchers alike to have a good grip of the past and the present diabetes epidemiology and its co-determinants. This will provide the basis for new and improved strategies to target and prevent this epidemic.