KARACHI: Around eight percent of the population of Pakistan is living with diabetes due to absence of effective healthcare, stress, sedentary lifestyle and unbalanced diet, health experts said here on Sunday.
The epidemic of diabetes has major health and socio- economic impacts, especially in developing countries including Pakistan. The complications of diabetes can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation, the experts warned.
Health experts including diabetologists and nutritionists talked in length on diabetes and its complications at the event organized by Aga Khan University Hospital. The event was held to mark the World Diabetes Day. The theme of World Diabetes Day 2016 is ‘Eyes on Diabetes’.
Quoting the International Diabetes Federation statistics, experts said diabetes claims over 86,000 lives in Pakistan every year and there were 7 million cases of diabetes reported in the country in 2015.
Speakers including Dr Qamar Masood, Dr Najum Ul Islam, Dr Nanik Ram, Moti Khan and Farzana Rafiuq said it was no exaggeration to describe diabetes as one of the major contributors to ill health and premature mortality worldwide.
Globally, across all ages, it is estimated that at least 1 in 20 deaths are attributable to diabetes, and in adults aged 35 to 64 the proportion is at least 1 in 10 deaths. If the current trend continues it is estimated that by 2030 the number of people with diabetes will more than double, they said.
“The more severe form of diabetes is type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes. It’s sometimes called “juvenile” diabetes, because type 1 diabetes usually develops in children and teenagers, though it can develop at any age,” Dr Qamar Masood said.
According to him, the most common form of diabetes is called type 2, or non-insulin dependent diabetes and typically develops after age 35. However, a growing number of younger people are now developing type 2 diabetes. Often, type 2 is tied to people who are overweight, with a sedentary lifestyle.
Speakers added that with Pakistan forecast to have the fourth-highest number of diabetes patients by 2030, there is an urgent need for health awareness about the disease. Worldwide, it afflicts more than 380 million people. And the World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, that number of people living with diabetes will more than double. It is a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart failure and stroke.
Diabetes is a chronic disease, which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly.
Nutritionist Moti Khan opined that to prevent diabetes by making healthy food choices, staying at a healthy weight, and moving more every day.
“Research studies have found that moderate weight loss and exercise can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes among adults at high-risk of diabetes,” he added.