At least eight million people in the country are suffering from diabetes and eight million other people are at pre-diabetes conditions and suggested to bring change in lifestyle to avert this dangerous disease. In Pakistan the numbers of diabetic patients are increasing on each passing day and the graphs of affected patients have been increased from past eight years (2000-08).
The disease is spreading at rapid speed and there is a need to initiate awareness campaign in this regard, he said. In 2000, Pakistan was ranked eighth in between top ten countries in which the number of diabetic patients were increasing at rapid speed and now in 2011, it was ranked at six and in 2025 Pakistan would be at four spot.
Experts said that diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or alternatively, when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar, he said. They said that hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.
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, once complications have already arisen. Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also occurring in obese children, he said.
Dr Qaiser Sajjad of Pakistan Medical Association has said that one of the most important causes that lead to diabetes is the disordered nutrition system. He said that this unhealthy nutrition regime includes abuse of sweets and foods that include a lot of sugar, abuse of bread which also includes ingredients that contribute to raising the glycaemia level and also the abuse of fat foods that also leads to high cholesterol problems.
He said that actually high glycaemia 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 glycaemia is hence, the main cause for diabetes, he said. He said that the other cause, which does not depend on the glycaemia level at all, is stress. He said that high stress leads to high glycaemia 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. He said that lack of physical activity could easily lead to diabetes.
He urged that the government should establish parks and pursue the people through an awareness campaign for bringing change in lifestyle 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.