Overview
- Clinicians report diagnoses now appearing in teenagers and people in their 20s, with a Bhopal specialist estimating roughly one in five youths affected.
- Telangana ranks fourth nationally for prevalence, with incidence reported between 8.5% and 14%, close to the 11.4% national benchmark from the ICMR–INDIAB study.
- Doctors caution that polluted air and endocrine-disrupting exposures may increase insulin resistance and complicate glucose control, describing mechanisms such as oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.
- Rural patients face treatment barriers including unreliable refrigeration and limited insulin availability, which physicians say contribute to preventable complications and higher mortality.
- Hospitals highlight targeted responses, including Osmania General Hospital’s diabetic foot clinic that screened patients and distributed free footwear, and NIMS’s program providing insulin pumps to 125 underprivileged children.