At least eight million people in the country are suffering from diabetes, while eigth million other at pre-diabetes conditions, therefore change in lifestyle is the only solution to avert this dangerous disease. Professor Dr Zaman Sheikh, Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), expressed his views while, talking to Business Recorder on Thursday.
He further said it is alarming situation as the number of diabetic patients are rapidly increasing, he added that it is a matter of grave concern that the graph of affected patients has been increased from past eight years (2000-08).
He emphasised the need to initiate awareness campaign in this regard. In 2000, Pakistan was ranked eight in between top ten countries in which the number of diabetic patients were increasing at rapid speed and now in 2008, it was ranked at six and in 2025 Pakistan would be at four spot.
He said that Type-1 diabetes (previously known as insulin-dependent or childhood-onset) is characterised by a lack of insulin production. Without daily administration of insulin, Type 1 diabetes is rapidly fatal. Moreover, he said that excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue are the common symptoms of this disease.
He said that Type-2 diabetes (formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body's ineffective use of insulin. Type-2 diabetes comprises 90 per cent of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity, he said. In addition, he said that the symptoms may be similar to those of Type-1 diabetes, but are often less marked and as a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset.
Yet it was considered that this type of diabetes was found only in adults, but new research has found that obese children are not safe from this lethal disease. He said that gestational diabetes is hyperglycemia (sugar in blood), which is first recognised during pregnancy, addding that gestational diabetes is the most often diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than reported symptoms.
Secretary General, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA), Dr Qaiser Sajjad, has said that one of the most important causes that lead to diabetes is the disordered nutrition system, including excess use of sweets and foods that include a lot of sugar, bread which also includes ingredients that contribute to raising the glycemia level and fat foods that also leads to high cholesterol problems.
He said that actually high glycemia and high cholesterol usually go hand in hand, as people who suffer from one are most likely to suffer from the other as well. High glycemia is hence, the main cause for diabetes, he said.
He said that the other cause, which does not depend on the glycemia level at all, is stress. He said that high stress leads to high glycemia on a nervous, psychical basis.
He said that change in lifestyle and special attention at one's daily diet and nutritional system would be helpful to avoid diabetes. He said that by having a balanced alimentary regime people could easily avoid diabetes and many other diseases that can derive from bad alimentation.
He also advised the people to have a lot of physical exercise, as studies have shown that the ones who practice sports are less threatened by the risk of getting diabetes.
Furthermore, he urged that the government should establish parks and pursue the people through an awareness campaign for bringing change in lifestyle in order to avoid this deadly disease. He also stressed that the young people should avoid use of fried eating elements to reduce the risk of diabetes.
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