Sunday 8 December 2024
Islamabad (News International / Pakistan News - 11th Dec, 2024 ) According to the latest data published in the journal “The Lancet”, 828 million adults worldwide are suffering from type 2 diabetes. Between 1990 and 2022, 630 million people worldwide suffered from this disease.
“More than 33% of the total number of people suffering from type 2 diabetes globally are South Asians, including both locals and migrants,” said Moniza Siddiqui, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London.
“The number of type 2 diabetes cases in India could be as high as 212 million, while in Pakistan the number is expected to be as high as 36 million, most of whom do not receive proper treatment.
Moniza Siddiqui further said that South Asians have relatively high blood sugar levels, which also increases the risk of developing heart, kidney and liver diseases.
Why are South Asians at higher risk of diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes attacks the beta cells in the human body, which reduces the amount of insulin in the body, due to which sugar starts accumulating in the bloodstream.
About 96 percent of all diabetes cases are type 2 diabetes cases. The risk of this disease increases further with unhealthy diet, obesity and increasing age.
However, genetics also play an important role in this.
Alka Kanaya, a clinical scientist at the University of California, San Francisco in the US, told DW via email that genetic factors cause the onset of diabetes in South Asians. That is, if a person is pre-diabetic (when blood sugar is very high but not in the diabetic range), he can quickly develop diabetes.
As a result, such people have less time to prevent the disease before it starts.
Genetic factors that cause diabetes
According to a study published in the scientific journal "Nature Medicine", due to genetic factors, South Asians develop diabetes earlier than people from European countries.
South Asians have certain genetic characteristics that cause fat to accumulate in parts of the body that can be dangerous to their health.
For example, instead of accumulating in parts of the body that are considered safe, such as around the thighs or arms, fat accumulates near the liver and internal organs.
Due to these factors, type 2 diabetes medication is not very effective for these people.
Prevention is possible through lifestyle changes
According to medical experts, although genetic characteristics cannot be changed, the risk of type 2 diabetes can be reduced through minor changes in lifestyle.
Research shows that PM 2.5 particulate matter in the air can also increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Obesity is a major cause of half of type 2 diabetes cases. In addition, consuming large amounts of processed meat, which contains salt, fat and other harmful ingredients, also increases the risk of diabetes.
Regular exercise and avoiding excessive sweets can help reduce the risk of diabetes.
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