ABSTRACT
Diabetes is perhaps considered the fastest-growing non-communicable disease globally. It is a group of ailments primarily characterised by hyperglycaemia. In 2016, the World Health Organization reported that there were approximately 422 million people affected by diabetes globally in 2014, while the figure was 108 million in 1980. One of the biggest threats within diabetes, as assessed by various authorities, is undiagnosed diabetes, which could become symptomatic due to the delay in the diagnosis being first made. In addition to being a health hazard, diabetes costs a lot to the global health budget. The WHO predicts this cost to be around 827 billion USD, while the IDF predicts it to be around 673 billion USD. Demographically, China and India have the highest number of diabetic patients. The global burden of obesity and eating disorders owe a lot to this growing diabetes epidemic. The largest proportion of the diabetic population has type 2 diabetes mellitus, followed by type 1 diabetes. Other forms of diabetes are monogenic diabetes, neonatal diabetes and gestational diabetes. Monogenic diabetes, also known as maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY), is caused by a single gene mutation. It is present in various forms as per the mutation type, the largest being the HNF-1α type, which accounts for almost 70% of MODY cases. The diagnosis of diabetes, as recommended by the American Diabetes Association, is based primarily on blood glucose parameters and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). Diabetes has, therefore, emerged as a global threat even though the diagnoses are minimally invasive and give fast results. The epidemiological evidence, however, provides a ray of hope that dietary interventions can largely control diabetic symptoms.
