China has a serious problem with diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions in the country. This is the conclusion of a group of researchers from Tulane University and colleagues from China, whose findings were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases among adults.

According to the study, 92.4 million adults in China age 20 or older (almost 10 percent of the country's total population) have diabetes, and 148.2 million adults have pre-diabetes, a condition that signifies high risk of developing overt diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease. Of particular significance is the finding that the majority of diabetes cases are undiagnosed and untreated.

These figures indicate that China has edged ahead of India to become the country with the highest number of diabetes-afflicted people. The diabetes epidemic is not only a serious public health problem, but can also have serious economic repercussions as well. A study found that estimated medical costs for diabetes and its complications accounted for 18.2 percent of China's total health expenditure in 2007. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that diabetes, heart disease and stroke will cost China approximately $558 billion between 2006 and 2015.