Diabetes can be controlled only by changing the lifestyle: Experts  

KARACHI: Dow University of Health Sciences Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Nusrat Shah has said that Insulin was invented a hundred years ago to protect human life, But due to our lifestyle we could not control diabetes. Neither can we make the lives of people suffering from this disease easier by giving awareness. Today, one in three people in South Asia is affected by diabetes and is dying from its complications, people who sit all day are most prone to heart attacks.  

He expressed these thoughts while addressing the awareness seminar organised by the National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE), a subsidiary of Dow University, in connection with World Diabetes Day. NIDE Director Prof Akhtar Ali Baloch, Dow International College Principal Prof Zeba Haque, Prof Dr Afzal Qasim, Dr Nisar Ahmad Syal, Dr Ambrina Qureshi, Dr Zubia and others also spoke on this occasion.  

Earlier, an awareness walk was conducted from OPD block to "NIDE" under the leadership of Prof Nusrat Shah. Prof Nusrat Shah said that the trend of walking is completely disappearing from our lifestyle, treatment of diabetes is difficult but prevention is easy which has become difficult due to our lifestyles today. She said that in our neighboring country India, pregnant women have been banned from drinking cold drinks, we should also do the same because during this time, sugar increases as a result of the change in hormones. 

 Prof Zeba Haq said that sugar binds to protein, so the average sugar level is determined by HBA 1C. Patience has been instructed in our religion that we should be patient even when food is presented to us and take food only as per need.  

Prof Akhtar Ali Baloch said that diabetes can be controlled only by changing the lifestyle. Prof Afzal Qasim said that sugar over time affects the arteries of the heart, brain and feet, resulting in the risk of heart attack and stroke. Microangiopathy can only be prevented by controlling sugar. In neuropathy, the diabetic patient does not know that he has suffered a heart attack.   

Dr Nisar Ahmad Sial said that 90% of the people whose vision is affected by diabetes can be saved from blindness. Therefore, it is important to be careful and regularly visit an ophthalmologist every six months as only an ophthalmologist can diagnose retinopathy.  

Prof Ambreena Qureshi said that it is also important to take care of the gums along with the teeth. According to the new research, the level of HBA1C can be reduced to 0.8 by cleaning the gums thoroughly and if the gums cleaning properly maintained for more than six months to 1 year, the HBA1C level can be reduced to "one".  

Psychologist Dr Zobia said that there is a correlation between depression and diabetes.

A person suffering from depression has a higher risk of developing diabetes, while people suffering from diabetes are also prone to depression. For this, there is a need for regular psychological examination of people suffering from diabetes.  

At the end of the seminar, Prof Nusrat Shah distributed shields among the speakers. On this occasion, a complete screening of the participants was done, which included blood pressure and sugar screening.