Type 2 diabetes: Study identifies heart disease risk factors amongst youths

KARACHI: Most of the young people recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in Karachi had all the classical risk factors for the cardiovascular disease including obesity, smoking, hypertension or high blood pressure, as well as, dyslipidemia or high cholesterol, an award-winning study presented at a scientific conference said on Sunday.

The study titled “Frequency of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors among young people with T2D at a Tertiary-Care Unit of Karachi” was presented at the 3rd Annual Conference of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM) in Karachi by a young researcher Dr. Saima Askari and it was awarded the first Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine Research Award (PSIMRA).

According to Dr. Saima Askari, an Assistant Professor at Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE) Karachi, people at the age of 30 to 35 years who were being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes also had poor glycemic control, while they also had family history of diabetes, making them more prone to develop cardiovascular disease and had heart attacks or strokes at an early age.

The study further says that around over 77 percent of the 5336 people diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes between the age group of 30 to 35 years were obese, 11 percent were smokers and over 31 had hypertension. Interestingly, over 90 percent of these newly diagnosed diabetics were married.

Another study by Dr Irum Aamer from King Edward Medical University (KEMU) Lahore, which was awarded with the PSIMRA Award at the conference, said younger men were committing suicides in Punjab as compared to women. She said family disputes, domestic violence, relationship issues, as well as, financial instability were most common factors behind the growing suicides.

The study further said chemical poisoning was the most common method for committing suicide followed by strangulation and gunshots and suggested for more research to prevent growing incidence of suicides in the young men in the largest province of the country.

Others who were awarded PSIMRA awards were in the ‘Emerging Physicians’ category included Dr. Ainan Arshad, Assistant Professor Medicine, Agha Khan University Hospital, Karachi while in the ‘Budding Physicians’ category, Dr. Saima Kazmi from the Indus Hospital, Karachi, Dr. Durkho Atif from Khyber Teaching Hospital, KP, Dr. Huzefa from Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi and Dr. Ramsha Habibullah from Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi were given research awards.

PSIMRA awards, which are financially supported by local pharmaceutical firm Pharmevo, were distributed by leading healthcare professionals including Prof Dr. Abdul Bari Khan, Prof Dr. Shahzad Ali Khan from HSA Islamabad, Prof Dr. Eice Muhammad, Prof Javed Akram, Prof Iqbal Afridi and several others.

Speaking on the occasion, President PSIM Prof Javed Akram said this session and awards were very close to their hearts as this session encouraged hundreds of young researchers and medical professionals to conduct research and present their research before hundreds of top healthcare professionals of the country.

“Pakistan despite being a large country in terms of population is nowhere on the landscape of medical research. We are thankful to the pharmaceutical company Pharmevo for their support and financing these awards, which are encouraging young researchers to come up with new and unique studies”, he added.

Dr Masood Jawaid, Director Medical Affairs at Pharmevo Limited informed that over 122 studies were submitted for Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine Research Awards (PSIMRA), of which 20 were short-listed and seven of these studies were selected for cash prizes in two categories.

“We are struggling for the establishment of a healthy society in Pakistan and this can’t be done without initiating our own research and studies. We are providing research grants for young researchers and in this regard, we from the platform of Pharmevo provide Rs. 300,000 for 18 months to the young researchers,” he added.

General Secretary PSIM Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine Prof Dr Somia Iqtadar, Shaukat Jawaid Editor in Chief of Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, Senior Vice President of PSIM Prof Aftab Mohsin and others also spoke.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022