Diabetes on the rise in UAE
Abu Dhabi, September 3, 2007
Cases of diabetes in the UAE are on the rise with the country accounting for the second highest number of patients per capita globally, a report said.
An estimated 246 million people worldwide have diabetes and the UAE ranks number two globally with 19.5 per cent of the population suffering from the condition, second only to the tiny Pacific island of Nauru, Professor Philippe Froguel, chair of the department of Genomic Medicine, Imperial College London, was quoted as saying by the Gulf News.
One out of five people in the UAE - aged 20 to 79 - has diabetes while a similar percentage of the population is at risk of developing it, especially youngsters, said Dr Maha Taysir Barakat, consultant endocrinologist, medical and research director, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi,was quoted as saying.
Both were addressing a congregation of medical experts in a two-day congress held for the first time in Abu Dhabi's National Exhibition Centre, where 'Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and Associated Diseases' were discussed.
MS is a combination of medical disorders that raises risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
A study conducted in 2000 showed that approximately half of the people in the UAE are unaware that they suffer from diabetes. – TradeArabia News Service