BY OLUFISOYE ADENITAN
Statistics have shown that over five million Adults are living with diabetes around the world.
The world health organisation has also revealed that one in five Adults is a patient of diabetes.
On the occasion of this year’s World Diabetes Day, our reporter spoke with medical experts on the causes,prevention and treatment of te disease.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin its produces .
The disease which is a major cause of blindness ,kidney failure ,heart attacks strokes among others may be averted if properly maintained and managed .
Diabetes can be genetic if there is a medical history of such in a family
This year’s theme which is “Diabetes care if not now when” has again brought to the fore, the need for more awareness campaign on healthy diets to prevent diabetes and also ensure effective management of the condition.
Speaking with Radio Nigeria, a public health expert, Dr Toyin olajide explained that apart from being genetic, diabetes was also a product of poor diets.
Dr olajide posited that diabetes patients had nothing to fear as proper management of the medical condition guarantees a long life Span.
On His part, a physician at the obafemi Awolowo university teaching hospital, ile Ife, Osun State, Dr Adeyemi spoke on the need for parents to watch and monitor their children’s diets as cases of juvenile diabetes now increase by the day.
Dr Adeyemi lamented the rate at which some parents fed their children with junks rather than fruits and foods that contain organic nutrients.
In separate interviews, Some middle-aged diabetic patients who did not want their names mentioned said managing the disease had been challenging considering the required treatments of insulin and drugs which they noted were very expensive.
They called on government to implement policies that would make management of chronic diseases such as diabetes less expensive.
It is the general position of medical experts that people are actually what they eat, therefore they must eat right and go for regular check up to prevent diseases.