Researchers at the National University of Singapore in the US and China have conducted a metabolic analysis of two decades of global burden of disease (GBD) reports.

And, unlike previous studies of GBD data that had focused on the increasing number of deaths and disability-adjusted life years in individual diseases, the aim of this report was to provide insight into trends and burden of diseases. Metabolic diseases – metabolic: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-, since they are closely interrelated.

Data on the global burden of disease is collected and analyzed by a consortium of more than 9,000 researchers in 162 countries and territories. Information is collected on premature death and disability from 370 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, by age and sex, from 1990 to the present.

In other words, the GBD report exhaustively describes what disables and kills people in all countries, times, ages, and genders.

This information can be used to make informed public health decisions about the best way to prevent death.

By comparing the reports of GBD de 2000 a 2019,the researchers found that rates have increased for all metabolic diseases: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

These pathologies cluster around processes that affect obesity-related insulin resistance, glucose homeostasis, lipid metabolism, proinflammatory immune cells, and cytokines.

Metabolic diseases occur together, share common risk factors, and are associated with increased risk of disability, cancer, and premature death.

According to the study, the most significant increase in the burden of disease was observed in countries with high income, educational levels, and high fertility rates. However, an upward trend was observed globally regardless of these factors.

The highest mortality rate from metabolic diseases was found in the eastern Mediterranean regions, followed by countries with the lowest average income, education and fertility. While metabolic diseases are trending upward, mortality rates have decreased from high cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and liver disease.

Taken together, the work shows that in 2019 there were 160.2 million years of life lost due to obesity.

The researchers conclude in their article that “urgent attention is needed to address the invariant mortality rates attributed to metabolic diseases and the entrenched sex-regional-socioeconomic disparities in mortality.”