Low awareness of risk makes diabetes a killer

Dubai: Diabetes is crippling thousands of people in the UAE who are in their productive age, while heart disease is killing people before their time, going by what the experts say.

Stressing the urgency of the situation, two top doctors said the impact of globalisation is being felt closer home and said it is up to the public and the government to face up to the health challenges presented by diabetes and heart disease.

The scary part is when someone tests positive for diabetes, the affliction, also known as the ‘silent killer' has been working in the background for the past decade in that person's body, said Dr Mohammad Hamed Farooqi, director of the Dubai Diabetes Centre.

"When you find out your glucose level is high, it is not the first day of diabetes for you," he said, adding that it has been found that the disease has been known to inflict damage for a whole decade in some cases before a patient becomes aware.

Hypertension

A top cardiac specialist in Dubai said hypertension is shortening people's lives. If a person's heart rate goes up even slightly, there is a risk of the life span shortening, he suggested.

A person who has 70 heart beats per minute could live to about 70 years. If heart beats go up to 80 beats per minute, his life span could be reduced to 61 years, he said.

Hypertension comes from life's daily stress, smoking, too much salt in food and lack of exercise. Dr Obaid Al Jasem, head of the cardiothoracic surgery department at Dubai Heart Centre, said women are dying younger due to heart attacks than men, because they seek help much later. Dr Farooqi said diabetes affects people when they are in the age group of 35 to 65 years — the most productive time of people's lives.

The doctors were speaking at the Dubai School of Government on ‘Gender, Globalisation and Health Care in the UAE: Heart Disease and Diabetes — the Silent Killers' on Wednesday night.

Dr Mohammad Al Reda, Non-Resident Fellow, Dubai School of Government, said this effect of globalisation was difficult to address because of a low awareness of the disease and low compliance of patients (those who do not follow the doctor's instruction). "This negatively impacts the country's society and economy in the long term," he said.

Bad lifestyle choices are the main causes of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the doctors said. The health care sector will be unable to handle the pandemic in the future, the doctors warned. Gulf governments have been conducting special campaigns over the years to make people aware of the alarming situation but without much success.

• 10,000: diabetes-related deaths worldwide every day
• 19.5%: Chunk of UAE population suffering from diabetes
• 2: UAE's global rank in terms of number of diabetics

Expert advice

1. Do not smoke.
2. Control your weight.
3. Eat healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables.
4. Exercise at least 30 minutes every day.