World Diabetes Day marked: Experts underscore need for adopting healthy lifestyle

LAHORE: Terming westernisation as the major cause of diabetes epidemic in Asian countries, both in the Asia Pacific as well as Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region including Pakistan, health professionals said sedentary lifestyle and Western food were the root cause of diabetes among Asians.

In the past, Asians used to live a simple life with consumption of a lot of vegetables but now they are consuming more meat and living a mechanised life,” health experts said while speaking at a seminar organized by Nutrition Department, Institute of Public Health on the occasion of World Diabetes Day on Tuesday. Dean IPH Prof Dr Zarfashan Tahir, Dr Mehreen Farooqui from Lahore Medical and Dental College, Dr Mahnaz Nasir Khan from Hameed Latif Hospital, Dr Shafa Ali from Ittefaq Hospital and others addressed the seminar and highlighted about the treatment, management and diet for diabetic patients.

“To keep your life from becoming bitter, minimize the consumption of sugar and sweets to avoid obesity and diabetes which is a major cause of high blood pressure, heart disease, renal failure and blindness,” the experts said, adding: “Eating less food, avoiding junk food, cold drinks and doing regular exercise play a key role in keeping a person healthy.”

Medical experts and nutritionists said the burden of diseases in Pakistan is increasing day by day, the main reason for which is surge in diabetes.

Dr Zarfashan Tahir maintained that the risk of diabetes in Pakistan is increasing day by day and 32 million people in Pakistan are suffering from diabetes. Dr Mehreen Farooqi said that every person who reaches the age of 35 years should undergo blood screening with reference to sugar so that if diabetes is diagnosed, it can be treated and prevented at the beginning. She highlighted the efficacy of insulin in the treatment of diabetes. She said that 35% of deaths in Pakistan before the age of 60 are due to diabetes. People should focus on their fitness, outdoor activities and daily exercise, attention should be paid so that they can avoid the disease, she said.

Dr Mahnaz Nasir Khan said we have to change our daily lifestyle and eating habits. She said that one should eat to live not one should live to eat. A symbolic walk was also organized at the end of the seminar in which Dean, Faculty members, Doctors and students participated. A nutrition camp was also organized on this occasion, in which doctors conducted free sugar test, blood pressure and weight check of the people and informed them about the prevention, management and preventive measures of the diabetes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023