According to the International Diabetes Federation (FID), there are currently more than 199 million women in the world living with diabetes.In fact, diabetes is the ninth cause of death among women in the world, causing 2.1 million deaths every year.

That is why this year the World Diabetes Day, on November 14, has women as the protagonist, under the motto "Women and Diabetes".In Spain, the departure shotgun of this campaign will take place next Sunday, November 19, which will be when the 6th race and popular walk for diabetes and expodiabetes, in the park of western Madrid.

Study data di@bet.es, carried out by the Red Research Center on Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases (CIBERDEM) show that 29.8 percent of women between 61 and 75 years suffer from diabetes, a figure that amounts to 41, 3 percent once exceeded 75 years.It should also be noted that between 15 and 34 there are 17 percent more women suffering from diabetes in relation to the number of men with this disease.

As Mercedes Galindo adds, a nurse specialized in diabetological education at the San Carlos Clinical University Hospital in Madrid, "the world population worldwide is expected to be around 300 million women, 100 million more than today."

Diabetes in women

All this is added problems, such as women with type 2 diabetes are almost 10 times more likely to suffer coronary heart disease than women without this condition.Likewise, half of the cases of hyperglycemia occur in women under 30.Approximately 1 in 7 births are affected by gestational diabetes (DMG), a serious and disregarded threat to maternal child health.

“Many women with gestational diabetes experience perinatal complications related to pregnancy, such as blood pressure or large -weight babies.On the other hand, those suffering from type 1 diabetes run a greater risk of early abortion or malformations if their control is inappropriate or does not exist, ”explains Mercedes Galindo.“In addition, almost half of women with gestational diabetes will later develop type 2 diabetes between five and ten years after birth.According to the data, worldwide, two out of five women with diabetes are of reproductive age, which is equivalent to 60 million women, a figure not negligible. ”

The role of women in diabetes is key not only as a patient, but also as a caregiver.Thus, on World Diabetes Day, we also want to remember that in Spain, women are the one who usually assumes as a rule the role of caregiver, especially children who are diagnosed with diabetes, but also the support function of parents, parents,husband and other relatives with diabetes, which generates important problems of work overload and in some cases the abandonment of their job.All this is an increase in its level of stress, anxiety or depression and impoverishment of the family by stopping entering a salary.