India is a “hotspot” of the global diabetes epidemic given the enormous absolute numbers of people living with diabetes and the considerable challenges due to low-resource conditions. The 15th World Congress of DiabetesIndia (DiabetesIndia 2025), held in February 2025, was organised by the Diabetes in Asia Study Group (DASG) Congress and DiabetesIndia, an organisation dedicated to advancing diabetes care at both the national and international levels.

More than 3,500 delegates attended the 15th World Congress of DiabetesIndia (DiabetesIndia 2025) that was held in Ahmedabad, India, from 13th to 16th February 2025. “There is a huge demand in India. In that relatively low-resource environment, there is a lot that can be done,” explains Professor Ketan Dhatariya, consultant in diabetes, endocrinology and general medicine at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital. Prof. Dhatariya had been invited to speak at the EASD Symposium together with Professor Simon Griffin from the University of Cambridge, UK, and Professor Mikel Izquierdo from the Public University of Navarre in Spain.


Highlights of the EASD Symposium

While Prof. Griffin elaborated on the evidence showing that metformin use affects cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in people with diabetes, Prof. Izquierdo discussed the topic of sarcopenia in diabetics as well as ways to mitigate muscle protein loss.

In his talk on hyperglycaemic emergencies, Prof. Dhatariya referred to the two major guidelines on the management of hyperglycaemic crises published by the American Diabetes Association and the Joint British Diabetes Societies for Inpatient Care Group. Updates of these guidelines had become necessary over the last years. Slight differences existed between them with respect to the management of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic syndrome (HHS), and there was a need to update on innovations in terms of technology, SGLT2 inhibitor use and other aspects. Experts from scientific societies around the world contributed to the paper.