Abstract
Research Overview
Diabetes Sees a Dramatic Explosion due to an Increasingly High Proportion of Overweight People
According to a new publication by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the
International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there are around 3.2 million deaths
attributed to diabetes each year. Updated estimates suggest that six deaths
are attributable to diabetes or related conditions somewhere in the world
every minute, a figure three times higher than previous calculations. In
Western countries, around 90 per cent of type 2 diabetes is attributable to
weight gain, and the increasingly high proportion of overweight people in the
general population is the driving force behind the 'dramatic explosion' of the
disease witnessed in recent years. Obesity has rocketed in the past couple of
decades with European figures showing about a third of UK men are overweight,
while 1 in 5 UK inhabitants are 'dangerously overweight', leading to around
30,000 deaths a year.
Home Blood Glucose Meters have Revolutionised Diabetes Care
Self-monitoring of blood glucose is the most important tool a patient has to
determine their level of glycemic control. The home glucose monitor (meter)
has revolutionised the diabetic industry by allowing patients to find patterns
in their blood glucose levels and evaluate how well their food choices,
exercise, and medicines are controlling their diabetes. With a meter, patients
can measure blood glucose levels at any time, and within seconds, they can
decide whether to eat some food, how much to eat, or how much insulin to take.
The second and third-generation diabetes monitors continue to refine
self-monitoring use, by becoming smaller, faster testing times, more
convenient devices with improved memories, better accuracy and a host of
add-on innovations developed in response to the varying needs of diabetes
patients. This trend is likely to gain steam in the future, with consumers
responding by driving dollar sales in double figures.
The Diabetes Monitoring Market Will Continue Expanding
The diabetes test kit market is dominated by products, which in 2004 accounted
for over 80 percent of category sales across Europe. Although, glucose strips
obviously continue to drive sheer volume numbers, their dollar sales growth
are relatively stable, which would seem to indicate, that the level of
consumer awareness has increased. Frost & Sullivan expects a continued focus
on home care, with manufacturers looking at ways to make self-monitoring and
insulin administration easier and less painful. Germany is the largest market
in Europe closely followed by the United Kingdom. The European Diabetes
Monitoring market reached $2.1 billion in 2004, the base year for this
research service. The market exhibited an estimated growth rate of 14.8% in
2004, and this is expected to increase extensively over the next 5-7 years.
Governments of European countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom,
have taken initiatives to promote education and awareness to create a demand
of regular self-monitoring which is expected to have a positive effect on the
growth rate. In this regard, the European Diabetes Monitoring market is
estimated to be valued at $5.4 billion by 2011.
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