Here is what Pakistan should know about diabetes, a deadly disease

World Diabetes Day is being observed across the world today.

World Diabetes Day was first observed in 1991 by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to create awareness in the world about increasing threat posed by diabetes.

World Health Organization described diabetes as: Diabetes is a chronic, progressive noncommunicable disease (NCD) characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (blood sugar). It occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough of the insulin hormone, which regulates blood sugar, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

The occasion brings the global diabetes community together in order to create a voice for the awareness of the disease.

World Health Organization stated that around 350 million people in the world suffer diabetes whereas it was the direct cause of some 1.5 million deaths in 2012.

It is projected that diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.

Diabetes has two forms. Patients suffering from type 1 don’t produce their own insulin and are in need for vaccines whereas type 2 patients produce their own insulin but not in sufficient quantity or cannot avail it properly.

Type 2 diabetes patients comprise of 90% of all cases are typically overweight.

The effects of diabetes can be minimised as patients suffering from type 1 diabetes can live healthy lives if they keep their blood and sugar levels in control.

Director General of World Health Organization Dr. Margaret Chan said, “If we are to make any headway in halting the rise in diabetes, we need to rethink our daily lives: to eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain. Even in the poorest settings, governments must ensure that people are able to make these healthy choices and that health systems are able to diagnose and treat people with diabetes.”