English news everyday:Diabetes rising sharply in China, study says

李金颖

【新闻背景】糖尿病是由于机体的胰岛功能衰退或是胰岛素抵抗等引发的糖、蛋白质、脂肪、水和电解质等一系列代谢紊乱综合征，临床上以高血糖为主要特征，典型病例可见吃得多、喝得多、便溺多体重减轻的“三多一少”症状。糖尿病的主要危害是各类并发症，包括视网膜病变、病足和糖尿病肾病等，且糖尿病并发症导致的病变是无法治愈的，此外患糖尿病可导致减少10年以上的寿命。糖尿病和遗传因素、生活方式及年龄有着很强的相关性。据研究，具有“节约基因”的人以及肥胖、饮食不健康及年龄在50岁以上的人容易染上糖尿病。目前，在发达国家四十岁以上人口中，换糖尿病的比例达10%。患糖尿病不仅给个体带来很大的身心痛苦，而且给社会造成很大的资金和资源的浪费。本文是关于上海地区2型糖尿病发病情况的报道，报道提醒中国广大居民必须改变自己不健康的生活方式，改善饮食、加强锻炼才能远离糖尿病。
The more common type of diabetes, type 2 diabetes, is rising sharply in China, and has increased by 30 percent in just seven years, according to a survey of thousands of Shanghai residents.


The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, shows that the curse of affluence appears to be affecting China as it has many other developing countries - and it has come on quite rapidly, researchers said. "Unlike the gradual transition in most Western countries, these changes in China have occurred over a very short time," wrote lead researcher Li Rui, at the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
People with type 2 diabetes have trouble processing sugar in their blood, but do not generally require insulin to manage the condition. As countries become more wealthy, lifestyle factors associated with type 2 diabetes - such as weight gain, less healthy diets and less physical activity - tend to become more common.
The research team interviewed more than 12,000 people in 2002 and 2003, asking whether they had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. They also screened people for diabetes who had not been diagnosed before.
At that time, they found that 9.7 percent of people had diabetes.

In 2009, they surveyed about 7,400 people again and found that 12.6 percent had the disease.
The spike was even more dramatic among rural residents in the study, going from 6.1 percent to 9.8 percent, a 60 percent increase.
"That's a remarkable increase in seven years," said Jeffrey Koplan, vice-president for global health at Emory University in the United States, commenting on the study, in which he did not take part.
The overall prevalence of diabetes was higher among men and in urban residents in both surveys, but the increase was more noted among rural residents, the authors wrote.
The study did not pinpoint the causes of the rise in diabetes, and Koplan said he could only speculate on what's to blame, though it has been well documented that people are getting wealthier and heavier in China. In addition, diets are including more unsaturated fat.
He added that people are also becoming more dependent on cars and less inclined to walk or ride a bike.
"All these factors would help contribute to having an increased prevalence in type 2 diabetes," Koplan said.
The authors wrote in their study that an aging population in China likely explains some of their findings. Older people are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and the researchers noted that 20 percent of Shanghai residents are over 60, with that proportion increasing.
Koplan said that many countries have programs to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent type 2 diabetes, but as of yet there's "not a proven, documented intervention that can reverse this epidemic of obesity and epidemic of type 2 diabetes".

【单词提示】diabete：糖尿病      resident：居民      curse of affluence ：富贵病      type 2 diabetes ：2型糖尿病