Faster way to diagnose diabetes
Published on: Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: Diabetes is known to be one of the top 10 deadliest diseases in this country. However, many seem to adopt a lackadaisical attitude towards the silent killer. In fact, the 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey revealed that 1.8 million of the 3.5 million diabetics in Malaysia were not even aware they were afflicted with the chronic disease.
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The statistics also showed that the number of diabetics in the country have increased to 17.5 percent in 2015 from 15.2 percent in 2011 and 11.6 percent in 2006. "The health report shows the number of diabetics aged between 18 and 30 years old have increased. This is a concern as many of them are not even aware that they have diabetes. "They would eat whatever they wanted to and this bad habit is exacerbated by their sedentary lifestyle.
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So when they fail to detect the disease early and receive due treatment, it would expose them to multiple complications."Among the main risks are of coronary disease, stroke, damage to the organs such as the kidneys, blindness and amputation," said the Malaysian Metabolic and Endocrine Society President Prof Dr Nor Azmi Kamaruddin to Bernama.
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Diabetes is described as a condition where a person's glucose level exceeds normal following the pancreas' inability to produce sufficient insulin. The presence of insulin is crucial in processing glucose into energy.However, diabetics are unable to produce enough insulin for the process. This in turn prevents glucose for entering the cells, leaving it to accumulate in the bloodstream instead. The high sugar levels in the blood eventually spill over into the small intestine, causing glucose to be present in the urine, thus making the person diabetic. "There are two types of diabetes. The first is caused by pancreatic damage, causing the absence of insulin hormones in the body. The second type is when the body cannot produce enough insulin to manage the level of sugar in the blood. "In Malaysia, up to 99 percent of diabetics are of the second type, said Dr Nor Azmi, who is also the Consulting Specialist for Diabetic Medicine and Endocrinology at Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM). He said the unmanaged increase in blood glucose levels could expose patients to a host of lifelong diseases. Those who delay treatment may find it a fatal mistake as it could cause coronary disease. Globally, diabetes is one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease, which is ranked the number one killer disease around the world, particularly in developing countries. In Malaysia, 35 percent of deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease, out of which 69 percent were also diabetics. The symptoms related to diabetes should therefore not be taken lightly. These includes constant fatigue, the urge to urinate often, particularly at night and the constant feeling of thirst. Malaysia is the number one country in Southeast Asia with the highest number of diabetics. Cognisant of the situation, the Health Ministry is constantly beefing up on its services for diabetics in Malaysia. One of the measures include launching the fifth edition of the Clinical Practice Guideline Management of Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus during the 2016 World Health Day celebration recently. The guideline among others introduced a simple test called A1c for detecting diabetes. "It will become the official document to guide health workers in giving not only the most effective form of treatment for diabetics but also for performing screenings and effective preventive measures at the primary level," said Health Minister Datuk Seri Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam when launching the World Health Day celebration recently. The text of his speech was read by Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya. The WHO has chosen for this year's celebration the theme Beat Diabetes: Scale up prevention, strengthen care, and enhance surveillance. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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