Over the past 40 to 50 years, the number of people living with diabetes worldwide has almost quadrupled. It has been called a silent epidemic (more than 400 million people live with diabetes), it has killed nearly 2 million people worldwide, and unfortunately, experts believe that these numbers will only double in the next few years. Experts have also dubbed diabetes a “slowly developing global catastrophe”, citing the astronomical cost to the planet in healthcare and lost productivity. This is all the more difficult to maintain because the pharmaceutical industry pays a high premium for insulin and other drugs diabetics need to survive.
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that disrupts the way your body turns food into energy. Everything we eat is broken down by the body into sugar, or glucose, which is released into the blood. Our pancreas releases insulin, a hormone that allows blood sugar to enter cells and be used for energy. When your body doesn’t produce enough insulin, or when your cells ignore or stop responding to insulin, blood sugar can rise, leading to serious and even fatal health problems.
The disease is further divided into two types: Type 1, a genetic condition that is born with and develops in childhood; and Type 2, which is mainly related to lifestyle and diet and affects a person later in life. From the 1960s to the 1980s, world food production continued to increase due to new technologies and an increase in the world population. More processed, salty and sugary foods are now readily available, and more people are developing type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that can lead to heart and kidney disease and vision loss. It is the leading cause of amputations in the United States and Europe and the leading cause of dialysis and kidney transplantation.
In 1921, Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best discovered a synthetic form of insulin that saved countless lives and was sold for a symbolic $1 The formula was sold to Eli Lilly for a price of . The fact that they choose not to take advantage of the suffering of millions makes the current situation ironic.
Today, Big Pharma makes billions from sales of insulin alone, especially in the United States, where insulin prices are among the highest in the world. As insulin prices skyrocket, people are threatening supply chains by trying to limit doses or find ways to get insulin cheaper from other countries. While there are some antidiabetic medications that can help, sometimes lowering your body’s blood sugar levels can actually increase your risk of developing diabetes.
Many people don’t realize that type 2 diabetes can be reversed by reducing sugar intake and eating a healthy diet that’s high in vegetables and low in meat and processed foods. But big pharma and now big food stand in the way, pushing insulin-based treatments instead of replacements. Gains may be too good to pass up.
Directed by: Dorothée Frénot, Benoît Rossel
