Diabetes Mellitus Complications in Sub-Saharan Africa

• DOI: 10.13034/jsst.v8i2.78
• Publication Date: 2017-05-10T11:47:37Z
• Authors: Petra Famiyeh
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; 1. No poverty; 3. Good health

Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a non-communicable disease whereby a person’s pancreas is either incapable of producing or unable to use insulin in the body. The disease and its complications are growing in different parts of the world. It has been predicted that by 2035, there will be over 205 million diabetics in the world. It has been hypothesized that diabetes complications is highly prevalent in many African countries due to high medication cost, lack of early diagnoses and treatment, low economic standing, and culture-influenced beliefs about the disease. To address this hypothesis, a literary review was conducted on peer-reviewed articles. PubMed and Google Scholar were searched using the keywords: diabetes, diabetes in Africa, diabetes complications to retrieve these articles. The articles were read and evaluated by one reviewer and information was extracted to generate conclusion about the hypothesis. The research found that the high influx of diabetes complications in Sub-Saharan Africa is correlated with the low economic status of countries within this region. Also high reliance on traditional medicine leading to delayed treatment also influences the prevalence of complications.This research also sought to identify the most effective preventative measures for these complications (e.g. optimal diet, exercise, access to effective medications) and the availability of these measures in the Sub-Saharan African regions. It was determined that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lacked access to optimal medications, which is the most effective preventative measure. Future studies should focus on ways to improve this preventive measure to optimize diabetes control in these regions.Le diabète sucré, connu communément sous le nom de diabète, est une maladie non-transmissible qui surgit lorsque le pancréas d’une personne est incapable de produire de l’insuline ou est incapable d’utiliser l’insuline produite. Des prévisions montrent qu’à l’an 2035 , il y aura plus de 205 millions de diabétiques dans le monde. Il y a une hypothèse que la situation économique de pays subsahariens et la culture contribuent aux complications diabétiques de ces régions. De la recherche a été conduite dans des journaux révisé par des pairs afin de prouver ou de réfuter cette hypothèse. Il a été découvert qu’il y a une corrélation directe entre le statut économique et culturel de pays en Afrique subsaharienne et le taux élevé de complications provoqués par le diabète sucré. Cette recherche a aussi été ciblée pour rechercher les mesures préventatives pour éviter ces complications et pour augmenter la disponibilité de ces mesures. Il a été déterminé que ces pays manquaient ces mesures préventives et efficaces. Des études futures devraient se concentrer sur des moyens d’installation de ces mesures afin de sauver des vies.