LAHORE: Senior physicians of the country have lined up against the growing risk of diabetes in Pakistan, as National Study Groups have been formed, to carry out research on diabetes in local settings for better prevention and control of the disease.
The groups, each consisting of five or more senior physicians, were formed in a meeting of the National Diabetes Chapter of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM) held here at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Sunday under the chairmanship of UHS VC and PSIM President Professor Javed Akram. The meeting was attended by a large number of senior physicians from all over Pakistan. Prof. Zaman Sheikh, President National Diabetes Chapter was also present in the meeting.
While addressing the meeting, Prof. Javed Akram said that diabetes was spreading like wildfire in Pakistan and about 25pc of the population was suffering from this disease. “It is now imperative to bring evidence-based medicine into it through indigenous research so that the disease can be controlled and patients can be treated in a better way”, he said, adding: “We are working to promote a culture of research in the field of medicine. To this end, the best physicians from all over the country have come together and we have selected 13 research projects based on the results of which the roots of the disease of diabetes will be found and recommendations will be made to the policy-makers.”
Prof. Javed Akram maintained that research done at a local level would be published in national and international journals. Funding for these research projects would be provided by the UHS and PSIM. This was the first time that such research was going to be conducted in Pakistan which would surely prove to be a game-changer for the country and its people, he added.
Prof Zaman Sheikh said that based on foreign research, guidelines for controlling diabetes at a local level, were not proving effective, hence, study groups consisting of senior faculty members of medicine and endocrinology were formed for research on various aspects of diabetes.
The research group, led by Prof Jaida Manzoor, will conduct research on the genetic basis of diabetes in children between the age of 10 and 18. The study group headed by Prof Zaman Sheikh will research the role of Vitamin D K2 in the management of type 2 diabetes. The group headed by Prof. Aftab Mohsin will research the prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension in the district of Nankana Sahib. In Sindh, Prof. Bikha Ram Devrajani’s group will conduct research on arsenic interferes with insulin secretion in the pancreas. Professor Khurshid Ahmed Khan’s study group will investigate the correlation between HbA1c and the degree of severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in diabetic patients in the Pakistani population. Prof. Jamal Zafar’s group will research the effects of diabetes on quality of life.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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