With estimated over 200 million diabetics around the globe, 'World Diabetes Day' was celebrated here on Monday like other parts of the world with a renewed pledge that all-out efforts will continue to be made for the creation of healthy society.
The day is celebrated every year under the auspices of International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) throughout the world, including Pakistan in order to create awareness among the people about this disease, which is mainly spreading due to bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle.
More than 200 million people now live with diabetes world-wide, and by 2025 more than 340 million people will have the disease if steps are not taken on urgent basis to prevent it. Obesity, particularly, abdominal obesity, is a major modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes, which accounts for over 90 percent of all diabetes, said experts while addressing different functions held to mark the day.
In addition to the human toll, they said, the cost of medical care and lost productivity due to diabetes is an estimated $132 billion a year, double the cost of caring for people who don't have the disease. A spokesman of Pakistan Diabetic Society told Business Recorder here on Monday different health organisations organised different functions to mark the day.
Experts in these functions pointed out diabetes is already placing a heavy burden on healthcare resources and the number of people at risk has huge implications for healthcare budgets. Quality of life for patients and their families could be improved and expenses could be reduced if people had better access to preventive care, were diagnosed earlier and had more intensive care for diabetes and its complications, they said.
According to them, diabetes is a major threat to global public health that is rapidly getting worse and the biggest impact is on adults of working age in developing countries. In most developing countries, at least one in ten deaths in adults, aged 35 to 64 is attributable to diabetes, and in some the figure is as high as one in five. People with diabetes run three to four times the average risk of developing liver cancer, apart from developing heart, eye and kidney problems.
They maintained obesity is not only a major risk factor for type-2 diabetes but also for other non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke). Today, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases related to obesity account for more deaths each year world-wide than AIDS. Diabetes has become one of the major causes of premature illness and death in most countries, mainly through increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), they said.
Giving an example, they said in India there were approximately 32 million people with diabetes in 2000, but by 2030 this number is expected to increase to almost 80 million. They were of the view if every individual, even those who are not diabetic reduce the consumption of sugar by 75 percent and follow healthy physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day, the prevalence of diabetes could be reduced significantly.
It may be mentioned that World Diabetes Day is observed every year on November 14 to commemorate the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, discovered insulin in 1921. The day was first observed in 1991 in response to concern over the escalating incidence of diabetes around the world. This year's theme was "Diabetes and Protection of Feet".
Explaining the complications of the disease, they said: "About 80 percent of people with diabetes mellitus die because of heart attack or heart failure or paralytic stroke. Therefore, it is essential for diabetics to control blood pressure and cholesterol in the blood. This would be possible only by regular medical check-ups, good medical care and attention from both physicians and patients."
They said though in diabetes most of the organs of the body are affected, the eyes and the heart are worst hit, as in diabetics cataract (pacification of lens in eyes) and glaucoma (raised pressure in the eyes) show an increased incidence.
However, more distressing part is that 50 percent of diabetics with over eight-year history develop usually vision-threatening changes in the eye (diabetic retinopathy). Further poor dietary patterns, sedentary lifestyle and poor control of blood sugar have increased the risks of sight threatening retinopathy, making diabetes the leading cause of new cases of blindness.
They were of the view that failure to check the spread of diabetes is considered the main cause of increase in mortality rates and the spread of other diseases like heart disease, kidney failure and physical disability.
They said majority of the people with diabetes has never heard of diabetic neuropathy - nerve damage that causes pain, numbness, or tingling in the feet and hands. An estimated 50 percent of diabetics develop neuropathy. 'People with neuropathy are at increased risk of foot injury and even amputation, because injuries can go unnoticed due to lack of sensation and then develop into ulcers or lesions that become infected. Even without serious injuries, diabetics with neuropathy can become hypersensitive to even the lightest touch, so that wearing socks or touching bed sheets, for example, can be very painful', they added.