Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness, caused by the inability of the pancreas to secrete enough of a hormone called insulin or the body losing its ability to use insulin.
Insulin controls the transfer of sugar (glucose) from the bloodstream into body cells. For people with diabetes, the absence or insufficient production of insulin results in elevated blood sugar levels or hyperglycaemia.
According to data from the International Diabetes Federation, 230 million people worldwide have the disease and this is expected to affect 350 million people by 2025.
