Beat diabetes with proper food, says expert | Arab News

RIYADH: Obesity is increasing in the Kingdom at an alarming rate and it will eventually lead to diabetes causing renal, cardiac, dental and eye diseases, said a senior official at a Riyadh-based company.

Vikrant Shrotriya of Novo Nordisk was speaking to Arab News about this year’s WHO theme, “Beat Diabetes,” to mark the World Health Day on Thursday.

“The theme is a timely choice, since there are 350 million diabetics in the world and this is expected to be doubled by 2040, and the world spends some $673 billion to treat and prevent the disease,” he said, pointing out that the deaths cause by diabetes is much more than any other disease in the world.

 Nearly 1.5 million people die of diabetes every year, according to WHO.
“One in every 11 persons become a victim of the disease,” said Shrotriya. “It is a silent killer if not properly treated.”


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Beat diabetes with proper food, says expert | Arab News

Health Day dedicated to diabetes awareness | Arab News

 RIYADH: A statistical report stated that diabetes in the Gulf has reached record numbers, with rates reaching between 12 to 24 percent, and increasing as people get older.

Rates are 8 percent in people under 35 years old, while those over 65 years old form 50.4 percent, and the percentages are expected to increase by the year 2030 to reach 24 to 50 percent.

The report pointed out that diabetes among Bahrain is is around 40 percent in people over 40 years; in Oman rates increase to reach 12 percent in adults; Kuwait has 22.4 percent; the United Arab Emirates has 19.6 percent.

This year, Global Health Day (April 7) is allocated to educate people about diabetes, said Mishari bin Hamad Al-Dakhil, general supervisor of the public directorate for nutrition in the Ministry of Health.

 Diabetes is spreading in an epidemic manner which makes it a risk at the national level. The importance of this concerns the increased rates of chronic complications due to diabetes, which increases the total costs of treating it.

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Health Day dedicated to diabetes awareness | Arab News

One in five adults may be obese by 2025, says survey | Arab News

 PARIS: One in five adults could be obese by 2025, said a major survey Friday that warned of a looming epidemic of “severe obesity” with significant health and economic costs.
The ratio of obese adults has more than doubled in the 40 years since 1975, and will climb further in the coming nine, the research showed.

Of about five billion adults alive in 2014, 641 million were obese, it found. The figure was set to exceed 1.1 billion by 2025.

 “There will be health consequences of magnitudes that we do not know,” author Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London told AFP of the research published by The Lancet medical journal.
“Obesity and especially severe and morbid obesity, affect many organs and physiological processes.

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One in five adults may be obese by 2025, says survey | Arab News

90% of Saudi children have tooth decay, says expert | Arab News

RIYADH: Some 90 percent of children are suffering from tooth decay in some parts of the Kingdom, with the Eastern Province having the lowest rates of infection, an expert told attendees at an oral hygiene event in Riyadh.

Dr. Salwa Al-Sadhan, head of Community Service at King Saud University’s Faculty of Medicine, said this at the event which focused on the importance of oral health.

 She said that students of the Faculty of Medicine are repeatedly visiting schools to spread awareness of oral health among students and to show them how to properly brush their teeth to prevent decay.

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90% of Saudi children have tooth decay, says expert | Arab News

Getting your hypertension under control | Arab News

Dr. Abdul Hameed: lifestyle changes need to be made; on top of it is to quit smoking

Millions of people worldwide are either overweight or obese. It seems as though many people in modern societies are living a life that leads to high blood pressure or hypertension. However, as people age, the situation gets worse. Nearly half of all old aged people have hypertension.

 This disease makes people more prone to strokes, three times more likely to have a heart attack, and two to three times more likely to experience a heart failure.


Studies indicate that it is because of the types of foods that are consumed; such as foods that are high in fat, especially saturated fats can cause hypertension. In addition to that, using a lot of salt has also been linked to high blood pressure. Yet, lack of exercise and obesity are also among the causes of hypertension........

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Getting your hypertension under control | Arab News

More doctors are prescribing exercise instead of medication | Arab News

BOSTON: When Dr. Michelle Johnson scribbles out prescriptions, the next stop for many of her patients is the gym, not the pharmacy.
Doctors treating chronic health problems increasingly are prescribing exercise for their patients — and encouraging them to think of physical activity as their new medication.

In one such program run by a health center in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, primary care physicians, internists and psychologists prescribe access to a gym for $10 a month, including free child care, classes and kids programs. Providing affordable gym access for patients ensures compliance, said Gibbs Saunders of Healthworks Community Fitness, a nonprofit gym in Dorchester that has partnered with several health care providers to help low-income residents fill their exercise prescriptions.


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More doctors are prescribing exercise instead of medication | Arab News

Are we all addicts? - Saudi Gazette

WHEN we think of addiction, we often think of substance abuse. This may include drugs, alcohol or even cigarettes. But what if I told you that we were all addicts but to a different substance something that we are constantly surrounded with in our daily lives, and which is eight times more addictive than cocaine? Sugar.

Take your own personal experience as an example. You have had your dinner and are quite satisfied, even full, but then you are introduced to the dessert table. What do you do? You will probably end up having a piece of cake. If you don’t, you will at least be tempted. Why is that? Are we unable to control our cravings?............

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Are we all addicts? - Saudi Gazette

KSA ranks fifth in Gulf for obesity | Arab News

Dr. Hanan Al-Ghamdi, assistant professor of Hepatobiliary and Laparoscopic Surgery at the University of Dammam, has warned that Saudi Arabia is located in the ‘red zone’ in relation to the prevalence of overweight and obese nationals.

“The overall proportion of Saudis who are overweight stands at 70 percent of the total population. The global rate of entry into what is known as the ‘red zone’ of concern is when
60 percent of the population is overweight,” she explained.

The proportion is divided at 72 percent among women, and 68 percent among men, she added.“Thus, the Kingdom ranked fifth among the Middle East countries, after Qatar,
Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” she said. 

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KSA ranks fifth in Gulf for obesity | Arab News

Sitting for 10 hours a day can lead to Liver related diseases- Source Pulseheadlines

source Pulse Headlines

South Korea – A team of Korean researchers found that those who sit for more than 10 hours a day have 9% higher risk of developing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) than those who sit less than 5 hours a day. The study was published in the Journal of Hepatology.
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the buildup of extra fat in liver cells that is not caused by alcohol. NAFLD may cause the liver to swell, making the person to be at risk of suffering cirrhosis over time and liver cancer or liver failure.

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