Health
Dr Adewole Adesanya, Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, has decried the increasing number of diabetes patients in Nigeria and called for concerted effort for regular screening.
Adesanya raised the alarm on Wednesday at the screening centre, FMC Lokoja, to mark the 2018 World Diabetes Day (WDD), with the theme: “Family and Diabetes”.
Adesanya, who led the team of medical officers of the centre, told newsmen that the screening was to create awareness on the prevalence of diabetes and the role of important in its management.
According to him, the number of people living with diabetes is increasing daily, adding that over 400 million people generally are living with diabetes worldwide.
“Diabetes patients, nationwide, are about 5.5 per cent, Nigeria has a population of about 200 million, so approximately about 11 million people are living with diabetes in Nigeria.
“Invariably, over 250, 000 people are living with diabetes in Kogi. So, diabetes is on the rise across the world in general.
“For every two people that have diabetes, there is one person that is not known; that is, 1 in 2 people currently living with diabetes is undiagnosed.
“This year, we are emphasising the role of family in supporting diabetic patients, we want to create a culture that will encourage people to regularly go for screening,” he said.
Adesanya, therefore, advised government to make provision for universal screening and create more awareness to save lives in the country.
He reiterated that anybody above 40 year-old should endeavour to go for screening regularly, especially those with family history, because they carry life-time high risk of diabetes.
“The classical symptoms of diabetes are excessive thirst, frequent urination, excessive eating and losing weight, lack of energy, blurred vision, re-current boils, among others.
“Type 1 is common in younger age below 30; type 2 is most prevalent diabetes for all ages, and gestational diabetes which mainly affects pregnant women.
“The Type 2 diabetes risk factors are: overweight, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, family history, high blood pressure, among others, 80 per cent of type 2 diabetes is preventable.
“Diabetes is a leading cause of heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation, among others
“The general public must be adequately sensitised on its early signs, detection, possible prevention and treatment to reduce the risk of serious complications.”
The consultant also advised the people not to be skipping breakfast always, saying “it poses high risk of diabetes.“
Adesanya said that the medical team had made adequate commodities to screen over 500 people to mark the World Diabetes Day celebration in the state.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the centre, Dr Olatunde Alabi, who declared the screening open, described diabetes as one major chronic health challenges on the high rate worldwide.
Alabi urged every family to give total support to any diabetic patient, stressing that “Family is the building block of any nation; if the family is healthy, the nation will be healthy”.
One of the diabetes patients, Mrs Saidat Cisse, commended the medical team for the screening, saying her family had suffered a lot from diabetes.
“We are grateful to our doctors for supporting and encouraging us. Today, my mother I and are living healthy because we obey and follow our doctor’s instructions,” Cisse said.
NAN reports thatWorld Diabetes Day is marked on Nov. 14, to emphasis the role of family in managing diabetes. (NAN)
Tags: Expert decries alarming rate of diabetes recommends regular screening
