Diabetes Mellitus and hypertension were most common health disorders among the Indian expatriates living in Saudi Arabia, according to a team of doctors that volunteered their services at a free medical camp held here at the weekend. Around 650 Indian expatriates, mostly from the southern Indian state of Kerala, turned up for free health checkup at a camp organized by Shifa Malayali Samajam, a social organization. A team of doctors of various specialties that volunteered their services were from Shifa Al-Jazeera Polyclinic and Riyadh Indian Medical Association. The doctors said most of the patients who underwent medical checkup at the camp were not aware that they were having diabetes mellitus, increased cholesterol levels and hypertension. Quite a few of them were having allergic bronchitis and some have complained about frequent back-pain. “We as a team diagnosed around 20 new cases of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and 50 new cases of among the people who visited the camp for free medical check up to have been suffering from hypertension,” said Dr. Rajashekhar, a physician. Besides, the specialized doctors there were paramedical staff, two lab technicians and 10 nurses, who volunteered their services and assisted the doctors for medical checkup. After checking for blood pressure and blood sugar the patients were advised to consult the concerned specialists present in the camp that ran between 7 A.M and 12 noon at Shifa Industrial Area. The free medical camp was organized on Friday, considering the weekly off to most of the people. According to information people with high blood pressure usually experience no symptoms unless their blood pressure is extremely high, or if they have had high blood pressure for a long time. In these cases, damage may occur in major organs, such as the heart, brain, and kidneys, as well as in the small blood vessels in the eyes. It's important to remember that if left untreated, high blood pressure may lead to serious complications. Similarly, symptoms of DM differ according to type and severity of the disease, type 1 DM has acute symptoms while type 2 DM can be discovered accidentally on routine investigations. Doctors advised the patients to undergo routine health checkup and to quit smoking (if they are smokers) and take a balanced diet to stay healthy while working in Saudi Arabia. The needy patients were given free medicines, besides issued with medical cards for follow up visits. The team of doctors that volunteered their services were Dr. Suresh and Dr. Upendra (Paediatrician), Dr. Sebastian (Internist), Dr. Joshi (Dermatologist), Dr. Jose and Dr. Shahul Hameed (Dentist), Dr. Jose Chacko (ENT Specialist), Dr. Rafeeque and Dr. Rajashekhar, Dr. Shameem (Physician), Dr. Balakrishnan, Dr. Freejo (Orthopedician), Dr. Alexander (Surgeon) and Dr. Mini Sajith (Eye Specialist). The free medical camp was organized under the supervision of Ashraf Vengat, Akbar Vengat and Noufel, members of Shifa Al-Jazeera Polyclinic and Shifa Malayali Samajam, a social organization. The social activists said they will be ready to organize such camps for the needy people at least once in every two months.
