[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]New estimates released by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) today to mark World Diabetes Day 2012 show that 371 million people have diabetes and 187 million are still to be diagnosed. The high number of undiagnosed diabetes cases means that millions of people are at risk of costly and debilitating diabetes complications, including nerve and kidney disease.

Previous estimates from the IDF Diabetes Atlas in 2011 put the number of people with diabetes at 366 million and number of deaths at 4 million. The 2012 figures show that the upward trend will continue. By the end of the year, 4.8 million people will have died from diabetes related complications. Half of these deaths will be in people under the age of 60.

“As millions of undiagnosed people develop diabetes complications, we can expect to see the mortality rate climb” said Jean Claude Mbanya, President of the International Diabetes Federation “On World Diabetes Day, we want to raise awareness that this disease can be controlled and in some cases prevented.”