International Diabetes Federation Joins Experts from around the World

The 20^th World Diabetes Congress will be held in Montreal October 18-22, 2009. This is one of the largest medical conferences in the world and more than 15,000 delegates attend the event. Top professionals in the field of diabetes from around the world will convene in Montreal to shed some light on this ever growing disease.

The event is organized every two years by the International Diabetes Federation and provides a broad showcase for new information and developments in the field. The 12,000 square foot exhibition hall will inside the Palais des Congres de Montreal. The event is a boon to the Canadian economy with the large number of people attending the five day event.

There are over 250 million people around the world who suffer from some form of diabetes and statistics show that by 2025 that number will rise to 380 million. North America has one of the highest rates of diabetics in the world with more than 9 percent of adults living with diabetes.

Canada is joining the ranks of other countries with rising numbers of people living with this disease. At this time 9.3 percent of the adults living in Canada are diabetic. That number is expected to grow to 11.1 by 2025.

The Canadian Diabetes Association and Diebete Quebec report that there are more than 2.4 million residents of Canada with diabetes. More than 6 million are in the pre-diabetic stage which puts them right in line as perfect candidates to develop type 2 diabetes. What is disturbing is that more than 80 percent of new residents of Canada hail from areas or cultures that have the highest rankings of diabetic cases. People from South Asian descent, as well as African, Asian or Hispanic descent make up this high risk group and are among the large groups that are migrating to Canada.

Ellen Malcolmson, President and CEO of the Canadian Diabetes Association is happy that Canada is the sponsor of the event this year. “Our founder, Charles Best, the co-discoverer of insulin, saw that the growing number of Canadians with diabetes required an organization to serve their needs.” She considered the widespread proportions of the disease “nothing short of a global pandemic.”

The hope is that bringing all of the medical leaders in the field of diabetes together to discuss any new innovations or insight into this widespread disease may begin to shed some light and start to turn things around. The focus of the event is to raise awareness of the disease, assist those who are living with it and educate the healthcare professionals who must treat and assist those who have diabetes.

The number of children and young adults in the United States who are beginning to develop type 2 diabetes is a testament to overeating and under exercising. More and more children are struggling with obesity which is generally where type 2 diabetes begins. Anything that can be discovered through this symposium that will shed some light on this killer disease will be a major step forward in turning the number of diabetics suffering around the world around.