Pakistan ranks fourth in the world among the countries that have the highest number of diabetics, and ranks second among the twenty-one countries in the Middle East and North African (MENA).
This news was shared by Professor Dr. Shamim Qureshi of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Karachi. Dr. Qureshi announced the ranking at the seminar ‘Diabetes: Protect Yourself and Your Family’ that was organized by the department in collaboration with the University of Karachi Alumni Association (UKAA) in Baltimore, Washington.
Around 90 percent of diabetes cases in Pakistan are reported of Type 2. Type 2 diabetes affects people later in life, as opposed to Type 1 diabetes which is a genetic condition.
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There are more than 415 million diabetics around the world, and this number is expected to increase to 642 million by the end of 2030. Furthermore, approximately 80 percent of diagnosed diabetics belong to the lower and middle-income classes.
Dr. Qureshi also informed the attendees of the seminar about the importance of the awareness of diabetes by sharing the symptoms of diabetes, and urged them to take proper precautions against it.
Dr. Muhammad Zafar Abbasi from the Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology also spoke at the seminar and emphasized that treatments like insulin injections for Type 1 diabetes or oral antidiabetic medication for Type 2 diabetes are the only ways to control patients’ blood sugar levels.
He added that these treatments produce better results when they are accompanied by a sugar-free and low salt diet in addition to exercise.
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Dr. Abbasi revealed that the onset of Type 2 diabetes could be delayed by avoiding a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, the use of tobacco, high-fat fast food, and triglycerides, and explained that this would control body weight as being overweight or obese increased the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
A poster competition was also held at the occasion to mark World Diabetes Day (WDD).
