A whopping 315 million people in India suffer from hypertension, 101 million with diabetes, according to an alarming study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
The study also showed that 136 million Indians are pre-diabetic, 213 million people live with high cholesterol, 185 million suffer from high LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol, while 254 million live with generalised obesity and 351 million have abdominal obesity.
The ICMR-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study is based on a survey of 1,13,043 people -- 33,537 urban and 79,506 rural populace -- aged 20 years and older, between 2008 and 2020. The survey covered people from urban and rural areas of 31 states, union territories, and the National Capital Territory of India.
"Non-communicable disease (NCD) rates are rapidly increasing in India with wide regional variations. We aimed to quantify the prevalence of metabolic NCDs in India and analyse interstate and inter-regional variations," said researchers, including Ranjit Mohan Anjana, from Dr Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre and Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, ICMR-Chennai.
All metabolic NCDs such as obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia, except prediabetes, were more frequent in urban than rural areas. In many states with a lower human development index, the ratio of diabetes to prediabetes was less than one.
Further, the study showed that some states like Kerala, Puducherry, Goa, Sikkim, and Punjab had the highest prevalence of NCDs as compared to others.
The prevalence of diabetes, in particular, was found to be highest in the southern and northern regions of India, with urban areas having a high incidence rate. On the other hand, the central and northeastern regions had lower prevalence.
High blood pressure was highly prevalent in the urban areas and across the country except central India.
"The prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic NCDs in India is considerably higher than previously estimated. While the diabetes epidemic is stabilising in the more developed states of the country, it is still increasing in most other states," the researchers said.
"Thus, there are serious implications for the nation, warranting urgent state-specific policies and interventions to arrest the rapidly rising epidemic of metabolic NCDs in India," they added.
Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with huge consignment of narcotics
In a major success, the Indian Coast Guard, following an overnight aerial-maritime joint operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on Sunday apprehended a Pakistan boat in the Arabian Sea, west of Gujarat's Porbandar, and seized a large haul of narcotics.
Decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken on next day of Independence, PM Modi says in K'taka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken the very next day after the country achieved Independence in 1947.
Rahul slams BJD-BJP in Odisha rally, says both in collusion to benefit few corporates
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stepping up the party’s campaign in Odisha on Sunday lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government and the opposition BJP while accusing them of having ‘married’ each other for personal gains and befooling the public.
PM Modi has already scored a century in first two phases of LS polls: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already scored a century of seats in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls.
Govt extends shutdown of schools in Tripura till May 1, heat wave alert extends
In view of the intense heat wave, the Tripura government has announced an extension of shutdown of all government aided schools and privately managed schools till May 1 next.
Despite having a woman CM, females in West Bengal most unsafe: JP Nadda
BJP national president J. P. Nadda on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying that despite having a woman chief minister, females in the state are most unsafe.
'Shehzada insulted Indian kings and emperors but forgot Aurangzeb's atrocities', PM Modi slams Rahul Gandhi
Coming down heavily on Rahul Gandhi over his recent remark that Rajas and Maharajas used to be "land grabbers", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress leader of playing appeasement politics and forgetting the atrocities committed by the likes of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who destroyed hundreds of temples.
Manipur: Gun battle breaks out among village volunteers of rival groups
Police said that several armed cadres of village volunteers opened indiscriminate fire on Koutruk village in the periphery of Imphal Valley from the adjoining hills in Kangpokpi district, and the armed village volunteers of rival ethnic groups retaliated.