ABSTRACT
The frequency of diabetes varies in different part of the world and in different populations, for example the incidence in Asia (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) is estimated at around 10-12% of the population, whereas in Europe it is about 4-5%. Genetic makeup and the era at which the key genetic mutations for diabetes occurred may be attributed to this variation. Even within the same country the variation has been noted; for example, the distribution of diabetes in different regions of the United Kingdom is different: England, 5.4%; Northern Ireland, 3.7%; Scotland, 4.1% and Wales 4.9%. One possible reason for the higher proportion of diabetics in England may be due to the higher proportions of migrants from countries with high prevalence of diabetes.
