DIABETIC Filipinos are growing by about two million every five years, and they are getting younger because of the unhealthy lifestyle in the modernizing world, diabetes and metabolism experts said Monday.
They also warned that the diseases related to diabetes would eat up a large portion of the health care budget.
The warning was raised during the media presentation of the global study on insulin therapy by Denmark-based insulin and diabetes care products manufacturer Novo Nordisk in Pasay City.
Dr. Sjoberg Ang-Kho, president of the Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism, said diabetes prevalence in the Philippines has grown from 4.6 percent or 3.9 million in 2003 to 7.2 percent in 2008, or an additional 2 million in five years. He said the prevalence rate in the National Capital Region is 8.2 percent in 2003-2004.
In 2008, the National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHeS) conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed that five in every 100 Filipinos have high fasting blood sugar.
Ang-Kho said in 2010, the number of diabetics was estimated at 285 million worldwide. He said the number would rise to 439 million in 2030.
He said the Philippines ranks eighth in terms of prevalence of diabetes in the world, which is topped by Malaysia. He said the trend in the Philippines is that diabetes peaks between age 50-60 and that it is higher among females and those in urbanized areas.
He also said diabetes reduces the chance to live longer, raises the risk of a stroke by up to three times, is the leading cause of non-traumatic amputation and blindness, and is the top reason people end up in dialysis.
Dr. Mary Anne Lim-Abrahan, a professor in the UP College of Medicine, said “diabetes is coming on much earlier due to modernization, urbanization, Coca Cola-nization, Nintendo-nization, and X-box and Facebook” which leads to unhealthy diet, less exercise, and stress.
Abrahan said $465 billion was spent in 2011 on diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, which makes up 11 percent of total healthcare expenses.
Source: http://www.malaya.com.ph/index.php/news/nation/12967-battling-diabetes-eats-up-health-care-budget
Battling diabetes eats up health care budget
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