CAIRO - Egypt has a very high rate of diabetes, affecting 11 per cent of the population, which rate is predicted to rise to 14 per cent by 2030. Dr Inas Shaltout, Egyptian professor of Internal Medicine and Diabetology, Cairo University noted that diabetes is the second reason for mortality from a disease worldwide, according to statistics of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Arabic Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) is launching a campaign aimed at preventing both diabetes and complications developing in diabetics, organised under the auspices of the Arab League, Dr Shaltout, AASD chairwoman said during the sixth annual AASD conference held recently in Cairo. "Fifty per cent of diabetics people do not know they have the disease and find out by accident, when they have complications with the circulatory system and heart. A diabetic patient is more vulnerable than non-diabetics to narrowing of the heart arteries, angina and myocardial infarction and heart failure,” Dr Shaltout stated. She added that the early onset of cardiac diseases in diabetics is exacerbated by risk factors such as obesity or if a patient is a smoker or suffers from hypertension. Dr Abdel-Khaleq Hamed, a professor of diabetes, has pointed out that there is an association between diabetes and hepatitis viruses, both of which are widespread in Egypt, contributing to poor and delayed recovery from hepatitis and the patient's deteriorating state of heath. Dr Shaltout revealed that a new trend in treating diabetes is based on raising patients' awareness of following a healthy lifestyle and diet. She referred to the prevalence of diabetes in young people and children, which she attributed to widespread obesity and their resorting to junk food and fizzy drinks, as well as spending long hours before the TV or computer and not practising sports. Studies have shown that 20 per cent of obese children are suffering from high levels of glucose in their blood, in addition. In addition, 85 per cent of obese children and young people that are diabetic have a family history of diabetes. Accordingly, Dr Shaltout urges that relevant analyses be carried out on children and young people at risk every six months.
