About a fifth of those aged 45 and above were living with diabetes in 2019, with two in every five possibly unaware of their condition, according to data from a study among India's ageing adults.

Findings published in The Lancet Global Health also suggest that as the country's population rapidly ages, diabetes cases among the middle-aged and older adults will increase, even if increase in prevalence of the condition in age-specific groups can be arrested, authors said.

Researchers, including those from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, and US, also found that 46 per cent of those aware of their diabetes regained a control over blood sugar levels, while around 60 per cent were able to control their blood pressure the same year.