TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s diabetic population is on track to reach 3 million within five years, with younger individuals increasingly at risk.
Taiwan Diabetes Association Chairman Huang Chien-ning (黃建寧) said Wednesday that more than 2.2 million people in the country have diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the number could rise to nearly 3 million by 2030, meaning one in every 10 people could be living with the disease, per CNA.
Once considered a condition primarily affecting older adults, diabetes is now becoming more common among younger people. Early-onset diabetes progresses rapidly and significantly increases the risk of death.
Younger patients are also more likely to fall into a vicious cycle of diabetes and obesity, Huang said. This further raises the risk of fatal outcomes.
Among early-onset patients, 60.1% develop at least one complication. Almost 30% experience two or more.
Research shows that individuals diagnosed at age 30 have an average life expectancy that is 14 years shorter than the general population.
Additionally, about 80% of type 2 diabetes patients are overweight or obese. Taiwanese Association of Diabetes Educators Chairman Ou Hung-yi (歐弘毅) explained that excess fat accumulation in organs can make blood sugar regulation more difficult.
In Type 2 diabetes, a long-term health issue, the body develops insulin resistance. Insulin is a crucial hormone that enables blood sugar to enter cells, lowering blood sugar levels.
When insulin does not work properly due to resistance, glucose builds up in the blood. This causes high blood sugar.
Ou added that diabetes patients also experience decreased incretin function. Incretins are gut-produced hormones that stimulate insulin release after a meal, especially in response to glucose and fat.
Impaired insulin secretion can disrupt hunger signals to the brain. As a result, individuals may unknowingly overeat, exacerbating both obesity and blood sugar imbalances.
This issue is not due to a lack of effort from patients, Ou emphasized. It is rather a pathological process that fuels insulin resistance and excessive appetite, making blood sugar management even more challenging.
Balancing blood sugar and weight remains a major challenge. Ou noted that new treatments, such as next-generation incretin therapies address both issues at once.
The treatment targets these two issues simultaneously. Recent research has shown that the latest incretin therapies can prevent ectopic fat accumulation.
