Hill States Have Highest Rates Of Diabetes, Hypertension New Delhi: Surprising trends have emerged from the health ministry’s first-ever large-scale study to check for diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) by actually testing blood samples from the country’s general population. In the first phase of the study that checked 1.06 crore samples, Maharashtra recorded the lowest prevalence of diabetes (2.5%) on one hand but the highest prevalence of people suffering from high BP (18%) on the other. Punjab recorded the lowest BP (0.8%). Overall, 7% of those tested (7.59 lakh) were found to be diabetic while 6.18% (6.55 lakh) hypertensive. In another interesting trend, hill states of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, where people are usually believed to be physically active, recorded high rates of diabetes and high BP. While Sikkim actually recorded the highest prevalence of diabetes (14%), Himachal Pradesh recorded the second highest prevalence of hypertension (14.2%) among all states surveyed. J&K recorded 8.9% prevalence of diabetes while over 8% population in Uttarakhand were found to have high BP. Tamil Nadu (11.7%) recorded the second highest prevalence of diabetes followed by Karnataka (10.3%), Bengal (9.8%), Kerala (9.3%), Odisha (9%), J&K (8.8%), Punjab (8.5%) Andhra (8.3%). States which recorded a comparatively lower prevalence of diabetes include MP (2.9%), Assam (3.7%), Chhattisgarh (3.9%), Haryana (4%), Jharkhand (4.6%), Uttarakhand (5.7%) and Uttar Pradesh (5.9%). When it comes to hypertension, states like Andhra Pradesh (13.3%), Odisha (9%), Chhattisgarh (8.4%) and Gujarat (6.7%) recorded the highest prevalence while Assam and Rajasthan (1.4%), Kerala (2.4%), Bihar (2.7%), Madhya Pradesh (2.8%) and UP (3.6%) recorded low prevalence. Dr Anoop Misra of Fortis said, “Physical inactivity is usually associated with diabetes but smoking tobacco and high salt intake are the two driving forces for high BP in Indians. While some states might have an active population and hence low diabetes rates, their consumption of salt and tobacco could be high thereby resulting in a spike in high BP rates.” A recent ‘DiabCare study’ conducted by Novo Nordisk found the average age at onset of diabetes among Indians was 46 years with their average body mass index being 26.5 (falling in the overweight category). Around 31.3% of the people with diabetes were hypertensive. Risk factors showed 57% of those surveyed did not exercise at all. Almost 38% had a family history of diabetes. The number of complications increased with the mean duration of diabetes from one complication over 6.6 years to six complications at 9.7 years duration of diabetes. International Diabetes Federation (IDF) recently said nearly 44 lakh Indians in their most productive years — aged 20 to 79 years — aren’t aware that they are diabetic. Diabetes killed 10 lakh Indians in 2011. Contrary to popular belief, the report said diabetes affects more people in rural India (34 million) than affluent urban India (28 million). The ministry has rolled out a diabetes screening programme in 21 states with a target to check 150 million people in 100 districts for diabetes and hypertension. The IDF said the gap between the number of diabetic men and women in India was diminishing. While 33 million men are diabetic, 29 million women are affected by high blood sugar. The latest global figures raised a serious alarm for India by saying that nearly 52% of Indians aren’t aware that they are suffering from high blood sugar.