Laboratories have become more likely to detect elevated blood sugar levels in Russians

One in five patients over the age of 18 has elevated glucose levels, analysts of the Invitro Index project told Izvestia. They processed the figures of those who applied to the medical network in 2021-2024.

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"The number of studies conducted has been increasing over the years. Thus, in 2024, 37% more blood glucose tests were performed than in 2021," Invitro noted.

The company explained that the data indicate a widespread occurrence of carbohydrate metabolism disorders: it can be prediabetes, diabetes mellitus, or transient hyperglycemia (a temporary increase in blood glucose levels, usually caused by severe stress).

An increase in the number of such results was also noted in the laboratory "Hemotest". According to their data, glycated hemoglobin, which is given for early diagnosis of diabetes and prediabetes, was higher than normal in 12.1% of patients in 2024, and insulin was higher than normal in 13.1%.

The company reported that glycated hemoglobin was higher than normal in 17.5% of men and 12.1% of women.

"Insulin is higher than normal in 15.6% of men and 12.5% of women. In 2024, almost 4% of those who tested for glucose levels were above the norm," the Hemotest added.

At the same time, it was clarified that 4.2% of men who applied for this study had higher than normal insulin, and 2.7% of women had higher than normal insulin.

Over the past 20 years, the number of patients with diabetes has more than doubled: from 2 million to more than 5 million people, including more than 1 million patients over the past five years, according to the study "Epidemiology and key clinical and therapeutic indicators of diabetes in the Russian Federation in the context of WHO strategic goals", published in early 2025.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Not at the proper level: every fifth person may be at risk of developing diabetes