Education and awareness of diabetes is the cheapest treatment for this malady and for checking its complications, Diabetic Association of Pakistan (DAP) Secretary General Prof. A. Samad Shera said.
He was speaking on Sunday at a moot organised in connection with World Diabetes Day-2009.
The organisers said that the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and World Health Organisation’s (WHO) theme for this year’s World Diabetes Day is “Diabetes: Education and Prevention”. The campaign slogan this year is “Understanding Diabetes and Taking Control”.
In his welcome address at the morning session, Prof. Shera introduced the theme of the symposium (prevention of diabetes and its complications). He was of the view that in 2010, the estimated number of people with diabetes in the world will be 284 million which will reach 438 million by 2030.
Prof. Shera stated that Pakistan was expected to be at number four in 2030 with 13.8 million people with diabetes if prompt action was not taken to prevent the disease. He further said education and awareness of diabetes was the cheapest treatment to prevent diabetes and diabetic complications.
Type-I diabetes is not preventable but Type-2 is preventable by maintaining a healthy weight and being physically active. Prof. Shera stressed that the Government of Pakistan should implement effective strategies and policies, such as appointing diabetes educators in hospitals for the prevention and management of the disease.
Prof. Jamal Raza, Professor of Paediatrics at the National Institute of Children Diseases, talked about the growing menace of obesity in children.
He was of the view that a dramatic rise in the incidence of Type-2 diabetes in children has been detected in recent years. This is largely due to the fact that an increasing number of children is becoming overweight and obese.
Obesity is most prevalent nutritional disorder among children and adolescents. Excess weight in children and adolescents is generally caused by lack of physical activity, over-consumption of energy dense foods or a combination of the two with genetics and lifestyle.
Prof. Noorjahan Samad, an eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist, highlighted the importance of preventive aspects of controlling blood sugar among women with diabetes during pregnancy, in her presentation titled “gestational diabetes mellitus — issues and challenges”.
Prof. Samad discussed the vicious cycle of diabetes in pregnancy and stressed that the blood sugar of the mother with should be controlled. “If we want to save our generations, we must control the sugar level in women who have diabetes in pregnancy,” she said.
AI-Ibrahim Eye Hospital Karachi Director Prof. Saleh Memon spoke about the prevention of blindness in diabetes. He said that Diabetic Retinopathy is one of the chronic complications of diabetes, leading to blindness if not treated in time. In every 100 diabetics at least 32 are going to develop retinopathy and 10 are going to need laser or surgery. In Pakistan, in a population of one million, there will be 23,400 diabetics with 7,488 retinopathy and 2,396 needing some sort of intervention. As many as 2,156 will need laser and 242 will need surgery, it was further stated.
Prof. Memon said best strategy to prevent diabetic related blindness will be to educate the public in general and diabetics in particular regarding the importance of lifestyle change and good glycaemic control.
He was of the view that early detection and treatment can prevent 95 - 98 percent of diabetic visual loss.
Prof. Jaffar Naqvi, Chief Executive of the Kidney Foundation, addressed the topic of prevention and early detection of Nephropathy in diabetics.
He said one of the major complications of diabetes was Diabetic Nephropathy. A third of diabetics will have their kidney damaged and will suffer from End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) over 10 to 15 years.
Prof. Naqvi said in our data, seven percent of patients with Type 2, diabetes may have micro-albumin in urine at the time of diagnosis of diabetes. The treatment of ESRD is either dialysis — a life saving procedure or transplant. He further said ESRD should be seen from preventive strategy rather than treatment by dialysis or transplant.
Prof. M. Zaman Shaikh, professor of Medicine and Director National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology, DOW University of Health Sciences, speaking on the topic of “Diabetes and Men’s Health problems” said that Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is a significant, under treated medical condition and is more prevalent especially in diabetics but 90 percent of ED patients never sought care.
Prof. Muhammad Ishaq talked on the topic of “Prevention of Heart Diseases” and said both types of diabetes type 1 and 2 were closely linked to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and it is the leading cause of death in diabetics.