In 2011, around 65,000 new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in Portugal, which means that in just a decade there has been an 80% increase. According to data from the National Observatory of Diabetes, there are over one million Portuguese with this disease, representing 12.7% of the population.
Luis Gardete Correia, President of the Observatory, said that there are still 5.5% of people who have not yet been diagnosed.
“We are talking about 450,000 people who do not know if they have diabetes and thus the disease is progressing without proper care.”
José Manuel Boavida, the director of the National Programme of the disease, states that 60% of the cases can be prevented and adds that it is necessary to create more effective ways of treatment, improving at the same time the medical assistance since diabetes is a lifelong disease.
Diabetes is a chronic (long-term) disease which is characterized by abnormal high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
The most usual symptoms for this condition are excessive urge to urinate and persistent thirst.
When combining a healthy medication with exercise and a good diet, diabetes can be kept under control.
