The start of 2010 does not bode well in terms of health in the Kingdom as the latest health statistics indicate that one out of four of people in Saudi Arabia above the age of forty suffers from diabetes. At least that's what Dr. Ashraf Sha'ban, Consultant of Internal Medicine and Endocrinologist at Bugshan Hospital in Jeddah told Saudi Gazette. Much has been written on the disease itself and what must be done to combat its spread, particularly amongst the youth, but such alarming figures indicate that little headway has been made in this respect. “The reports indicate that more than 25 percent of the population of Saudi Arabia over the age of forty suffer from diabetes and the most recently-diagnosed cases are either by chance or much later than the onset of the disease,” said Dr. Sha'ban. “These diabetics may, therefore, have already started experiencing the complications from diabetes such as heart disease, inflammation of the nerves and effects on the eyes amongst others.” He added that “Diabetes is a chronic disease which occurs without the patient experiencing any physical symptoms in the early stages, and that is why there are such delays in the discovery of the disease.” Many complications are, therefore, avoidable if the disease is diagnosed at an early time. Dr. Sha'ban also remarked that obesity is the main cause of diabetes in the Kingdom where three out of four diabetics are also overweight. Genetic factors combine with environmental and lifestyle factors to increase the incidence of this disease. On a personal level, he has reviewed how the disease starts in both children and elderly people. “Diabetes is caused by the absence of insulin from the body altogether - known as Type 1 diabetes - and this occurs at an early age in children. Type 2 - which happens as a result of insulin resistance or weak processing of insulin - usually occurs in older people,” he explained. Treatment is both widely available and highly successful, but a lot depends on the lifestyle changes a diabetic is able to implement. Recent research has yielded the discovery of a new drug that treats Type 2 diabetes by focusing on restoring the balance between insulin and the anti-insulin hormone called glucagons which raises the level of sugar in the blood.
