UAE: In line with the World Health Day’s theme ‘Beat Diabetes’, a diabetes and endocrinology consultant in Abu Dhabi affirmed that research studies show that lifestyle changes could reduce the incidence of diabetes by 58%, if the individual commits to walk for an average of 150 minutes per week at a rate of 30 minutes five days a week, and commits to healthy eating, staying away from obesity.

Dr. Mahmoud Ben Baraka, consultant diabetes & endocrinology at HealthPlus Diabetes & Endocrinology Center in Abu Dhabi warned that the number of diabetic patients is steadily increasing with the prevalence of chronic diseases particularly obesity, heart diseases and other ailments.

Today, 7th April 2016, marks the World Health Day. On this occasion, Dr. Ben Baraka further stated, that diabetes has been leading the list of chronic diseases globally and its prevalence is too high. World Health Organization statistics show that by 2040 the number of diabetic patients will increase to over 640 million people. It also reveals that the rate of diabetes type 2 has become very high in the Middle East. Type 2 is linked to heredity and weight which emphasizes the importance of long-term awareness programs to prevent diabetes by educating members of the community and urging them to adhere to healthy and nutritionally balanced behaviors and focus on exercising which eventually helps a person stay fit, and away from obesity.

Dr. Ben Baraka also pointed out that in recent years we started seeing more cases of diabetes amongst children under 18 years. This is a result of overweight and obesity caused by lack of exercise and the intake of fatty and high-calorie food.

He added, "HealthPlus Diabetes & Endocrinology Center in Abu Dhabi since it opened 3 years ago, has been keen to take into consideration all these factors and adopting programs to prevent diabetes with the support of Health Authority Abu Dhabi, and organizing public health lectures, seminars and medical conferences to tackle this issue."

Majd Abu Zant, CEO of HealthPlus, said "our Diabetes & Endocrinology Center has a multidisciplinary team of experts consisting of 5 consultant diabetes, internists, ophthalmologists, nutritionists and diabetes educators working collaboratively to provide comprehensive care and support patients better cope with diabetes. We also believe in the important role of medical innovations in helping improve people lives, and have established a ‘Diabetes Technology Unit’, providing all the diagnostic and therapeutic advanced technologies, in addition to integrated programs to monitor diabetic patients to avoid complications of the disease on the foot, eyes, kidneys, heart and other body organs. Our physicians follow up over 8,000 patients since the center opened in 2013, and we receive over 20,000 visits a year. Our Diabetes & Endocrinology Center, in collaboration with Diabetes Zentrum Mergentheim, is part of HealthPlus Specialty Outpatient Centers."

Dr. Ben Baraka further added, "we have launched few diagnostic techniques at the center including a new blood sugar monitoring device, a small-sized device that the patient can stick on the shoulder and is linked to a wireless receiver that the patient carries. The device measures the patient’s blood sugar throughout the day without the need to take a blood sample. Usually, we monitor a patient’s blood sugar for two weeks, which helps us determine the blood sugar levels and identify the times when it increases r decreases. This gives the physician an integrated demonstration of the patient's condition."

He said, "other developments include the insulin pumps, which are used for diabetes type 1, where the pump spontaneously stops giving insulin when blood glucose levels are low."

Dr. Ben Baraka commended the fact that the World Health Day theme this year is "Beat Diabetes", which is an important occasion to raise awareness on the seriousness of diabetes and the importance of prevention through exercising and healthy eating. It’s evident that many health institutions in Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the Health Authority Abu Dhabi continuously raise awareness on fighting diabetes as well as other chronic diseases.

Source:WAM