One in seven Australians to battle diabetes by 2050: report

CANBERRA, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- One in seven Australians will suffer from Type 2 diabetes by 2050, a new research reveals.

As Australia battles a growing obesity crisis, the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes will soar, with 7.2 percent of adults expected to be diagnosed with the disease by mid-century, twice current levels.

A further seven percent will be living with the disease undiagnosed, meaning one in seven Australians will be afflicted, according to Canberra University's National Center for Social and Economic Modeling (NATSEM).

A NATSEM report released on Tuesday, suggests "it is vital that those living with Type 2 diabetes are supported with interventions to control and manage the significant burden this (rise) will place on all Australians."

The report studied five key interventions: improving use of medicines, improving exercise, enhancing primary care, introducing new drugs and counseling patients.

"All five interventions showed benefits over the long-term, improving levels of diabetes control, reducing the number of complications and therefore the health burden," NATSEM research director Laurie Brown said in a statement.

NATSEM projects by 2050 the prevalence of complications experienced by Australians living with Type 2 diabetes will include over 270,000 coronary bypass grafting procedures, over 250,000 heart attacks and more than 750,000 renal complications.