Dubai: Though most diabetics understand that their affliction is dangerous and that they need to change their lifestyles, most tend to ignore doctors' warnings, a senior diabetologist said.
Dr Mohammad Bilal Al Shamma said most patients ignored the goals they set for themselves — to reduce their blood sugar levels — and continued to live their lives as normal, adding that diabetes is an expensive disease. "It costs on an average Dh2,000 per month, but that's just the cost of an outpatient," he said.
"With the various complications, the costs go much higher." Diabetes leads to kidney failure, blindness, heart attacks and in some cases the leg has to be amputated due to nerve damage, Al Shamma said.
The latest victim is Hollywood actor Zsa Zsa Gabor whose leg was amputated due to gangrene recently.
Increased risk
Doctors said that diabetes and smoking could increase the risk of suffering from gangrene. According to the Emirates Diabetes Society, by 2030 more than 21 per cent of the UAE population will suffer from the debilitating disease.
Henrik Bendix Dahl, general manager, Novo Nordisk, said that about 60 people died every day in the Gulf region due to diabetes.
"Three million people suffer from diabetes in the Gulf," he said, quoting the IDF (International Diabetes Federation).
About three million more were at a high risk of becoming diabetic, the federation warned.
One diabetic patient said he couldn't stop eating sweets because he had a sweet tooth.
"I also never exercise," Rajan Chadha, IT specialist at American Hospital said. He spoke at the launch of a diabetic drug in the UAE that also helps control a person's weight. Victoza, however, is not a weight-reducing drug and should not be taken if a patient is at an advanced stage of insulin depletion and the body can no longer produce the hormone.
