Poor eating habits of Pakistanis, especially excessive use of rice in form of Biryani on daily basis along with carbonated drinks is the leading cause of diabetes in Pakistan where around 26 percent of the adult population is suffering from the lifestyle disease, experts said on Wednesday.
“There is an immediate need for reinvention of Pakistani cuisine. Everything we are eating should be avoided, especially rice in form of Biryani, soft drinks and the so-called fast food. The only recreation in Pakistan is eating in abundance, which is making is a diseased nation”, Emeritus Prof. Tasnim Ahsan said while speaking at launching ceremony of ‘Discovering Diabetes”, project aimed at finding out undiagnosed patients of diabetes in Pakistan.
The discovering diabetes project is a joint-venture of Pakistan Endocrine Society (PES) and local pharmaceutical firm Pharmevo, under which a helpline has been established to help people know their status of diabetes and get consultation with leading diabetologists of the country.
The launching ceremony of the discovering diabetes project was addressed by other renowned health experts including eminent diabetologist Prof. Zaman Shaikh, President-elect of Pakistan Endocrine Society (PES) Prof. Abrar Ahmed from Peshawar, Prof. Javed Iqbal from Bahawalpur, anchor Wasim Badami, artist Imran Abbas, Syed Jamshed Ahmed and Haroon Qasim.
Prof. Tasnim Ahsan maintained that Pakistan is facing an epidemic of diabetes where millions of adult Pakistanis are now living with the diabetes and added that type 2 diabetes is an obesity-driven disease, which is now a global problem. Lack of physical activities in addition to excessive food intake, marrying in the families are some other causes of diabetes, she added.
According to Prof. Tasnim Ahsan, over 50 percent of the people living with diabetes don’t know of their health status and they only come to know about their disease when their eyes, kidneys, heart and brain suffers irreparable damage and urged people to get advantage of the discovering diabetes helpline to know their health status and start taking preventive measures, if they are not diabetics.
Another renowned diabetologist Prof. Zaman Shaikh said diabetes is a silent killer, which is killing hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan annually but unfortunately, majority of people are unaware of about their disease and consider it as an unimportant health issue.
