Pakistan has 3rd highest diabetic population
Health experts share their views at a seminar on World Diabetes Day organised by Express Media Group and Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine in collaboration with ATCO, Servier, Getz Pharma, High-Q and Highnoon. Photo express
In a seminar organised by Express Media Group and Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM), medical experts termed diabetes as a dangerous disease and said that Pakistan is the third country in the world where the number of diabetic patients is highest.
Diabetes can cause stroke and heart attack, as well as affect the eyes and feet. A person with the disease has an increased risk of kidney failure and high blood pressure.
The main causes are obesity, smoking, lack of exercise and an unhealthy lifestyle and diet.
According to medical experts, diabetes affects every part of the body. However, due to the development of medical science, incurable diseases like diabetes can be controlled and the patient can lead a happy life.
The World Diabetes Day seminar was organised in Lahore by Express Media Group and Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine in collaboration with ATCO, Servier, Getz Pharma, High-Q, Highnoon and Lundbeck.
PSIM President Dr Javed Akram, Chairperson Prof M. Zaman Sheikh, Dr Soumia Iqtadar, Prof Sajid Obaidullah, Prof Aftab Mohsin, Dr Tariq Mian, Prof Azizur Rehman, Prof Tariq Wasim, Prof Khurshid Khan and Express Forum Editor Ajmal Sattar Malik attended the seminar. Dr Wafa Qaiser hosted the event.
Addressing the seminar, PSIM President Dr Javed Akram said that every fourth person in Pakistan suffers from diabetes. If there is diabetes in the family then the chances of getting the disease are very high. “Sugar is a life partner that goes hand in hand with life,” he said adding, “In this disease, there is no divorce. There are modern drugs and insulin in the present age but unfortunately patients avoid taking insulin. If sugar is not controlled, insulin is needed.”
He said people will only get rid of the disease when they eat moderately.
PSIM chairperson Prof M Zaman Sheikh said the disease is called silent killer. The world’s first insulin for diabetics was introduced in 1923, invented by two physicians involved in teaching and research at the University of Toronto.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2021.