Health challenges
Diabetes and tuberculosis: the impact of the diabetes epidemic on tuberculosis incidence
Increases in the prevalence of diabetes has serious implications for tuberculosis control in India
Authors:
C. R. Stevenson; N. G. Forouhi; G. Roglic
Publisher:
BMC Public Health, 2007
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of mortality in developing countries, and in these countries diabetes prevalence is rapidly increasing. This article, in BMC public health, assesses the potential impact of diabetes as a risk factor for incident pulmonary tuberculosis, using India as an example. The paper evaluates the contribution made by diabetes to both tuberculosis incidence, and the difference between tuberculosis in urban and rural areas. It finds that diabetes accounts for approximately 15 per cent of pulmonary tuberculosis and 20 per cent of infectious tuberculosis.
The paper concludes that diabetes makes a substantial contribution to the burden of tuberculosis in India, and the association is particularly strong for the infectious form of tuberculosis. The current diabetes epidemic may lead to a resurgence of tuberculosis in endemic regions, especially in urban areas. The increased diabetes prevalence associated with the rapid urbanisation in India and other countries potentially carries a risk of global spread with serious implications for tuberculosis control and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. [adapted from author]
