By Shahd Alhamdan
DUBAI — Diseases related to kidneys or heart are universally considered to be fatal, but only a few people deem diabetes as a major killer. A recent study by the International Diabetes Federation reveals that around 23,420 people in the Kingdom died because of diabetes in 2015 alone.
Of the estimated 3.49 million diabetic patients in the Kingdom aged between 20 and 79, only 1.24 million cases are diagnosed. The Kingdom has one of the world’s highest rate of diabetes.
During a press conference by global health care and pharmaceutical company, NOVO Nordisk, it was pointed out that a recent study by King Saud University on 18,000 people found that 25 percent of participants were diabetic, while another 25 percent were hypoglycemic — had low blood glucose levels — especially while fasting. The study showed that a person’s lifestyle was the main precursor for developing diabetes.
The conference was held in Dubai on Thursday to announce NOVO Nordisk’s launch of Tresiba, a long acting form of insulin that the company hopes will reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia and the associated dizziness.
Vibrant Shrotriya, the company’s Gulf general manager and vice president, said that spreading awareness about the risk of diabetes was an important step in reducing the number of people diagnosed with the condition.
“People say ‘nobody dies because of diabetes’, but they do not know that deaths happen because of diabetes. When a population is aware that they can develop diabetes, then they can work on prevention. Exercise, eat what is required for the body, do not over-eat, and be careful with your lifestyle. That can reduce the burden of diabetes,” he said.
Shrotriya said there are a number of signs that a person may have already developed diabetes, including obesity, a poor medical history, a family history of diabetes, a lifestyle and old age. These factors are taken into consideration together to determine a person’s risk of developing the condition.
