In a recent research presented by health professionals representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the 12th Annual Pan-Arab Conference for Diabetes, hosted in Cairo, doctors called for the importance of closely monitoring the widespread of diabetes which is hitting a record high in the region. During the conference, Dr. Ashraf Abdul Quayoom Amir, Assistant Director of Health Affairs for Primary Healthcare at the Ministry of Health, Makkah region - and a member of the Saudi delegation participating in the conference – assured that recent studies underlines the fact that prevalence of diabetes in Saudi Arabia has reached epidemic levels soaring from 17 to 25 percent in the Kingdom during the last ten years. This means that one out of every four people is suffering from diabetes. The serious spread of the disease should be tackled as a priority, says Dr. Amir, otherwise the continuous increase of diabetes victims will cripple the nation's fiscal and human resources. He added that the severity of diabetes lies in the fact that it forms a syndrome of other bodily complications and serious health ailments such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels, heart disease, kidney disease, peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic foot complications that might reach the point of gangrene, eventually leading to amputation. As for the main causes of the disease, Dr. Amir says that there are several grave factors leading to diabetes. Some are uncontrollable, such as replacing healthy diets with unhealthy eating habits, the proliferation of inactive lifestyles and lack of physical effort, in addition to the psychological tension and stress that we are exposed to on a daily basis. In addition, there are uncontrollable factors leading to diabetes, such as genetic and hereditary factors that play an important role in this disease as well. Dr. Amir urged doctors to treat diabetes with utmost care and with highest priority, stressing the importance of combined efforts of all parties involved to halt the expansion of diabetes sufferers, through increasing awareness and educating both patients and physicians alike. Discussing the economic repercussions of diabetes, Prof. Dr. Majid Hamza, Professor of Neurology and Pain at the University of Virginia, also serving as director of the American National Program for Pain Treatment and Director of Intrusive Spinal Cord Treatment Unit shared some successful case studies regarding the reduction of diabetes incidence rates from the US, mainly through tackling the proliferation of the disease from an economic perspective. In the past, the focus in the USA lied in dealing with the disease by establishing rehabilitation centers for diabetics and helping them resume their role in society instead of preventing the disease. However, the organizers of the rehab program found that they suffered the downside of high cost, and thus were forced to find a more cost effective way of treating diabetes, leading to the discovery of early disease prevention and methods of dealing with cases of pre-diabetes spread in adolescence. Prof. Hamza also revealed that peripheral neuropathy, being a complication associated with diabetes, costs the United States more than US$11 billion every year; not to mention the indirect economic losses incurred due to absenteeism from work because of this problem. “Peripheral neuropathy treatment options are so limited and the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have proved futile. However, the introduction of a new generation of medicines such as “Pregabalin” known as “Lyrica” which has been approved by FDA, has been a breakthrough in the management of this tough health issue,” said Prof. Hamza Prof. Hamza called upon prestigious health care institutions to take a momentous leap in researching and developing treatment methods which serve as an effective solution to this problem. Dr. Abdulrahman Al Meghamsi, Endocrinology and Diabetes Consultant and Chief Internist at King Khaled Ophthalmology Hospital, shed light on the fact that diabetes is a main cause of vision loss and blindness worldwide. “Eight out of every ten heart attack sufferers are diabetics, while more than 50 percent of those who suffer from kidney failure are diabetic patients,” said Dr. Al Meghamsi. “The solution does not lie in the opening of sophisticated medical centers as much as it lies in the early detection of diabetes,” he added. In Dr. Amogmsi's opinion, the priority should be for establishing specialized centres offering integrated services ranging from health and nutrition awareness, investigating cases of pre-diabetes, to offering effective treatment for patients. Dr. Ayman Mohammed Ibrahim, Consultant Internist at Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital in Jeddah called for focusing on educating the public on nutrition, children and adolescents in particular, concentrating on the quality of food provided to them in school canteens in order to prevent the increasing number of diabetes cases. In addition, Dr. Ayman pleaded with other physicians to allocate enough time for screening patients' medical history, listening to their complaints, and following up thoroughly, which serves the general purpose of increasing the credibility of private health care in general and the treatment of diabetics in particular. __
