The global statistics of diabetes mellitus in year 2013 indicated, about 382 million people had this disease worldwide, with type 2 diabetes making up about 90 % of the cases. This is equal to 8.3 % of the adult population with equal rates in both women and men. In year 2012 and 2013 diabetes resulted in mortality of 1.5-5.1 million people per year, making it the 8th leading cause of death in the world. It is predicted that by year 2035 about 592 million people will die of diabetes. The economic cost of diabetes seems to have increased worldwide. An average age of onset of diabetes is 42.5 years and could be due to consumption of high sugar and high-calorie diet, low physical activity, genetic susceptibility, and lifestyle. Approximately 8 % children and about 26 % young adults have diabetes mellitus in the world. The results of epidemiological study of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) are presented by demographic, geographic, biologic, cultural, and other factors in human populations. The prevalence of T1D has been increased by 2-5 % worldwide and its prevalence is approximately one in 300 in US by 18 years of age. The epidemiological studies are important to study the role, causes, clinical care, prevention, and treatment of type1 diabetes in pregnant women and their children before and after birth. In this article, causes, diagnosis, symptoms, treatment and medications, and epidemiology of diabetes will be described.
Keywords: Diabetes; Diagnosis; Epidemiological perspective.