Experts link diabetes to sedentary lifestyle

Urge people to walk, exercise and consume healthy diet

RAWALPINDI:

Experts have said that diabetes is taking the shape of a global epidemic caused by laziness, gluttony and a sedentary lifestyle with Pakistan finding third place in the world with diabetic patients followed by China and India.

They said that there were 422 million diabetes patients worldwide and 1.5 million deaths stem from diabetes each year.

On the occasion of International Diabetes Day, they urged people to move, exercise and have balance diet to keep themselves physically and mentally fit and healthy.

According to health experts, there were 14 million diabetes patients in Pakistan and more people were falling victim to the disease due to unhealthy lifestyles mostly shaped by technological and money-saving advances with people spending less amount of time moving and walking.

Benazir Bhutto General Hospital Additional Medical Superintendent Dr Inayat said that diabetes is the mother of all diseases and a snake in the grass.

He said that diabetes leads to other diseases such as vision loss, kidney failure and severe bouts of a heart attack. He said that it was necessary to change the lifestyle through exercise and walking with a healthy and good diet.

 Dr Bashir Ahmed Malik, who is associated with the diabetes clinic in Rawalpindi, said that diabetic patients must consume adequate protein and minimal carbohydrates. He said that diabetic patients should avoid wheat, starch, rice, pulses, dry fruit, honey and sugary products.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Dr Ansar Ishaq said that people need to change their lifestyle and keep walking and moving. He said that the use of insulin was very important for those suffering from diabetes.

Khurshid Begum, a diabetic patient for the past 20 years, said that she has been using insulin but the disease affected her vision and she lost her teeth.

Muhammad Ibrahim, who has been suffering from diabetes for the past 10 years, said that the illness affected his vision and he underwent a cataract operation.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2022.