Diabetes cases often undiagnosed—study

Press, 25 January 1989, Page 35

Diabetes cases often undiagnosed —study

NZPA Sydney More than 200,000 Australians may not realise they have diabetes, according to a new study. It indicates that the number of undiagnosed cases almost equals the number of known diabetics, and that an estimated 2.2 per cent of adults are unwitting sufferers. Researchers were also shocked to find that men — particularly those aged over 40 — are significantly more at risk from fe disease than women. Their results indicated

2.7 per cent of men were diabetics, compared with 1.62 per cent of women. Men were almost twice as likely as women to suffer undiagnosed type-2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes. The study, involving 10,083 people aged 25 to 64 from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Newcastle, is reported in the latest “Medical Journal” of. Australia. The researchers, .from the Commonwealth*,Department of Healtp in

Canberra and Perth’s Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, extrapolated from their results that Australia has 225,000 undiagnosed diabetics. This was compared with the 250,000 known sufferers, of whom about 40,000 have type-1 or insulin dependent diabetes. The researchers said they were surprised by their results showing a high incidence in men, as this trend had, not emerged in previous epidemiological studies.