King AbdulAziz hospital in Al-Ahsa represented by Primary Care Clinics and Diabetes Department held Diabetes Day corresponding to World Diabetes Day. "This campaign was held to educate people about dangers, treatment methods and prevention measures of diabetes, and spread awareness among future generations, because according to international studies, diabetes is the next threat to the world.” the Regional Executive Director of Health Affairs in National Guard -Eastern Province Dr. Ahmad Arfaj stated.
"The primary goal of this event which which lasts for two consecutive days is to raise awareness on diabetes, such awareness campaigns must be conducted for the long run," adding, "there was lectures and workshops about diabetes care, treatment methods and other related topics."
Endocrinology Consultant, Dr. Ali Al-Qarni said "This event comes after the high raise of people with diabetes compared to statistics done 80 years ago where people with diabetes were only 5% of the population, but now it is up to 24% among adults."
Dr. Al-Qarni added that a recent stud confirmed that after the age of 40 there will be a possibility of having Type II Diabetes with a ratio of one out of two “caused by obesity and unhealthy eating habits."
"There is a threatening international number of new cases of diabetes, the Middle East, particularly the Gulf Region has the highest number. it’s the numbers are expected to double during the next 20 years if certain precautions were not made. The source of these findings is the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), by visiting the website you will get more details on how serious this subject is.
Dr. Al-Qarni stated in a warning tone that "Diabetes danger is the hidden danger, and that's why it attracts huge global attention. He added:” people with diabetes die earlier than normal ones, and they are at risks of heart attacks 4 times more that regular people and twice the risk for brain strokes, diabetes is considered number 1 factor to vision loss as well.
“Diabetes is also a cause for kidney failure, as well as Gangrene foot, people with diabetes are less productive and effective, the will also face financial consequences due to medications and healthcare related issues. What is alarming now is that diabetes numbers are getting higher among children and this calls for more serious and effective measures”.Dr. Al Qarni added: "Many people point to the genetic factor as major cause of this disease, however, genetics plays a great role along with obesity and unhealthy eating habits.Diabetes has been in ou peious generations but the alarming rates indicate othe factors that are contributing to the spread of this disease."
"We as physicians are dealing with this disease on an individual personal level, but the means of access to the community are not as effective, there should be a dedicated budget for preventing this disease. Obesity and diabetes go hand in hand and spreading awareness about obesity will definitely help against diabetes.”
Finally, this event lasted for two consecutive days with a large presence of school students and National Guard employees and their families, as well as National Guard Health Affairs staff and a wide participation from the Ministry of Health through a huge corner aiming to establish a balanced and a healthy diet for visitors.