The number of diagnosed diabetic cases stand at around 9 million but the number of undiagnosed patients could be twice or thrice the figure as people are fast drifting towards unhealthy lifestyles in the country, says diabetes experts here on Thursday.
Diabetes a chronic disease triggered by lack of insulin in the body or the body's failure to respond to secreted insulin, is of two types commonly known as Type I and Type II.
The former is a mild one but the latter is far more severe carrying serious complications. 90 percent of the diabetic patients are suffering from Type II, indicating the high level of its spread.
So far in Pakistan there has never been any significant effort on the part of the government to raise mass awareness about the disease and take initiatives to curtail its growth.
A recent survey has already shown diabetic complaining of getting no proper attention in the public hospitals.
A senior doctor at a local hospital said that the government has adopted a "see and wait" kind of attitude to the fast spreading disease. Officials of the ministry concerned should come forward to take up the challenge of shielding the public from malignant diseases like Type II diabetes.
It becomes very difficult at times to treat Type II diabetes keeping in view the absence of some effective medicines.
The basic medicines are only symptoms focused, very few medicines like rosiglitazones address the underlying causes and stem the development of diabetes growing into severe conditions like heart-related ailments, renal dysfunction, amputation and vision blurring.
Daily exercise is a "must-do" for preventing development of diabetes. Other preventive measures include minimising sugar servings, reducing weight and adopting healthy lifestyles. Once described as adult-onset-diabetes, Type II now doesn't even spare children any more.
Specialists believe that the increasing urbanisation is also one of the factors causing rise in diabetic.
Usually the number of diabetes cases reported in the cities is far higher than in the rural areas.
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