Sex Differences in Risk Factors for Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract
WORLDWIDE, there are at present approximately 110 million people with diabetes, the majority of them with type 2 diabetes, and it is estimated that this number will reach more than 220 million by 2010.1 In Germany, at least 4 million people have diabetes mellitus.2 In the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998, the prevalence rate for diabetes was 4.7% for men and 5.6% for women in the 18- to 79-year-old population.3 However, observations from other countries have shown that the real prevalence is probably even higher because of a high proportion of persons with undetected diabetes.4,5