National and international health experts have advised the people to take at least 10,000 steps or walk six kilometres daily and reduce fat content in their diet by 30 percent to avoid getting diabetes, saying diabetes is a silent killer that remains hidden or unnoticed for several years and only come into the notice due to the emergence of its complications.
“Taking 10,000 steps daily, which is a roughly six kilometres’ walk is quite doable and would prevent people from getting diabetics. In addition to that, reduce fat content in your diet because diabetes is more a fat disease than carbohydrates’ disease. Daily consumption of refined sugar should not exceed 25 grams per day, so people should avoid fast food and soft drinks,” said German diabetologist Prof Peter Schwarz on Thursday.
He was talking to journalists after the 4th International Diabetes Conference 2017 held at a local hotel.
The conference had been organised by the Diabetic Association of Pakistan in collaboration with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and a leading multinational pharmaceutical company. It was addressed by international health experts from Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea and Pakistan. Doctors from across Pakistan attended the moot and learnt about latest advancements in medicine.
Prof Schwarz, who is a professor of internal medicine and the head of Prevention and Care of Diabetics at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, maintained that for many people controlling their diet or modifying it as per their health needs and requirements was difficult, but what they could do to avoid or postpone diabetes was to take 10,000 steps daily at any cost.
“For people above 22 years of age, walking six kilometres or 10,000 steps is mandatory to avoid diabetes and many other chronic diseases. And this walk is doable, not difficult if done with determination.”
According to the heath expert, another lifestyle modification could be reducing fat content in daily diet at least by 30 percent and avoiding refined and artificial sugar. The recommended dose of refined sugar is 25 grams per day for healthy person, and artificial sweeteners are also producing a health risk for people, he added.
Eminent Pakistani diabetologist Prof Abdus Samad Shera said more than 50 percent of the heart or kidney patients who reported at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) after heart attacks as well as at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) did not know that they had diabetes, which led to serious and deadly health conditions for them.
“That is why we say that diabetes is a silent killer and it remains silent at least for six years in a healthy person. It only comes into notice when a person report to a hospital with a heart attack, stroke or kidney-related issues. In order to prevent these complications, we advise people to take measures for avoiding or postponing diabetes.”
He said eating less and walking more were the only option for adult Pakistanis to avoid getting diabetics as they were genetically designed in such a way that most of them would have to have diabetes sooner or later in their lives.
Prof Shera, who is the secretary general of the Diabetic Association of Pakistan (DAP) and honorary president of the IDF, declared junk food, including pizzas, burgers, parathas, biryani and other forms of fast food as “weapons of mass destruction”, while soft drinks were “poison” and people should avoid them, besides doing regular exercises.
He thanked international speakers, including Prof Schwarz, Sir Michael Hirst, Prof Nam H Cho and Prof Rudiger Landgraf, for coming to Pakistan to attend the conference and creating awareness among Pakistani doctors and people about latest developments regard diabetes and its prevention and management.
Prof Rudiger Landgarf from the University of Munich, Germany, spoke on early diagnosis of diabetes, saying early diagnosis prevented its deadly complications, including heart attacks, stroke and renal failure.
He said that despite growing concerns, type or lifestyle diabetes was on the rise in the world, including Pakistan. He further deplored that a large number of people were still living with diabetes without knowing their health condition and this was leading to deadly consequences for them and their families.
The president-elect of the IDF and South Korean diabetolgist, Prof Nam H Cho, spoke about gestational diabetes and said its prevalence in Pakistan was very high due to lack of awareness and advised pregnant women to get themselves screened for diabetes in every trimester so that their condition could be treated and managed to prevent their future generation from getting the disease.
Former IDF president from the UK Sir Michael Hirst spoke about the importance of diet and exercise in prevention and management of diabetes, and said the IDF had launched a kids programme to promote awareness about the diabetes among schoolchildren, their teachers and parents in Pakistan, which was successfully being run in Lahore.
Lauding the role of the Diabetic Association of Pakistan and the IDF in creating awareness about the diabetes, he said it was actually the job of the government to provide treatment facilities and implement prevention strategies.
