People seem to think diabetes is inevitable as you age. But that’s not true. Dr Yasmeen Ajaz, Specialist Endocrinologist at Medcare Hospital Al Safa, explains that it is a multifactorial disease with several risk factors that include age, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. “While most people over the age of 60 years do have diabetes, it is not purely because of age. A combination of risk factors needs to be present for you to have diabetes as you age.”
Experts suggest that everyone above the age of 35 check their blood sugar levels even if they don’t have any risk factors. If your results are normal, then get regular screenings every three years, says Dr Archana Purshothaman, Consultant Endocrinologist at Fakeeh University Hospital, Dubai Silicon Oasis.
For people with risk factors, she has this advice: “Anyone with a body mass index higher than 25, irrespective of their age, and presenting additional risk factors such as high blood pressure, non-typical cholesterol
At Medcare Hospital Al Safa, we plan annual diabetes screening programmes and offer special packages to help people get checked for prediabetes and diabetes.
We also offer corporate packages so that companies can take better care of their employees and help them make their health a priority. Given the high prevalence of diabetes in the UAE, what are the three main things that people in the UAE should do to prevent diabetes?
Diabetes has both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. It is important to tackle the modifiable risk factors to prevent diabetes. The three major risk factors for diabetes are obesity, sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.
With that in mind, the three main things that people in the UAE can do to prevent diabetes are lose weight and maintain a healthy, stable weight, exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, and eat a balanced diet with all the required nutrients and vitamins.
These will not only help prevent diabetes but will also keep other major health