Every two seconds, two people develop diabetes in Nigeria. Experts warn that it is a silent killer without diagnosis but for those aware of their condition, disclosure could help save a life. VICTOR OKEKE writes.
Sonny’s mother developed diabetes before she was 50 years but lived with it until she died at 87. Now, Sonny’s elder sister has also been diagnosed with diabetes.
According to Prof Chinenye Sonny, a consultant endocrinologist at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital and President, Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), his interest in diabetes management rose from the experience he had caring for his diabetic mother for over 40 years.
Studies have shown that patients with type 2 diabetes are more likely to know of a relative with diabetes than patients with type 1 and, therefore, suppose that diabetes “runs in the family.” Type 2 diabetes has a strong hereditary component.
If you have a parent, brother, or sister who has it, your chances rise. But you can take action through everyday lifestyle habits, like exercise and healthy eating, to lower your odds of following in their footsteps.
That said, several gene mutations have been associated with type 2 diabetes risk. None of these genes cause diabetes on their own. Instead, they interact with environmental factors — for instance, toxins, viruses, and foods — and each other to increase your risk. Because of gene connection, if diabetes occurs in your family, each member of the family has a 40 per cent chance of developing diabetes at one stage in one’s life.
At a lecture to mark this year’s World Diabetes Day in Abuja, with a focus on healthy eating, Prof Felicia Anumah, who is also a consultant endocrinologist at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, said that although about five million people live with diabetes in Nigeria, over 50 per cent of them are unaware of their condition.
In her lecture, she emphasised the importance of disclosure to family members of ones diabetes condition as chances are evident that another member of the family will develop diabetes in their life time.
“If both your parents have diabetes, you have as much as 70 per cent chance of developing it. I tell my patients, because I know we are in an environment where a brother would not want to tell his sibling what’s wrong with him.
“As patients, you have a responsibility to tell your family about your condition so that they can be empowered to prevent having it,” Anumah said.
She decried the secrecy Nigerians associate with their medicals, warning that such could be fatal in diabetes management.
“You have a disease and you don’t want your brother to know about it, it is wrong. I emphasise it to my patients that they have a responsibility to tell their family that have diabetes so that they can get prepared towards preventing it.
“It is a culture that we need to work on. If you have a 40 per cent chance of a disease, you have a 60 per cent chance to prevent it but it is only when you know that you prevent it,” she explained.
Speaking on the importance of healthy eating, Prof Sonny told LEADERSHIP Sunday that DAN does not condemn the eating of calories, adding that it is a question of moderation, as even recommended foods can become dangerous when abused.
“The thing about healthy eating is that it is a balanced diet and this means diet that has carbohydrate, some protein, fat, minerals and vitamins,” he said.
“If we make it modest, we will maintain a moderate weight. For every height you have, there is an ideal weight for it. The problem we have here is that the weight of lots of people doesn’t tally with their height.
“That is what we call body mass index (BMI)- just check your height in meters and check your weight in kilograms, divide your weight in kilogram with your height in square meter, if it is above 25, then you’re a candidate of diabetes,” he emphasised.
Sonny said that a study conducted by the Diabetes Association revealed that over 40 per cent of Nigerians have a high BMI which makes individuals candidates for diabetes.
On the part of government, he said Nigeria has to adopt an ecological approach for weight management making sure there is proper legislation since man eats what is available to him.
“If we make available healthy and well standardised food to the average Nigerian, I don’t think we would be overweight.
“Even those that have developed diabetes, we should not allow them to die because studies have shown that when you detect diabetes early and manage it, they live with the illness rather die from it,” he added.
According to the diabetes expert, one of the things Nigeria must do is to strengthen diabetes care at the primary level, adding that currently primary healthcare centres only immunise, manage malaria and diarrhoea and don’t have capacity to manage diabetes and related diseases like hypertension.
“If we strengthen our health system and have diabetes care at the primary level, where people live and work, then it would be rare to say a Nigerian died from diabetes,”
he further stated.
The DAN President added that the Nigerian government will have to subsidise diabetes treatment and remove tariffs on import of anti-diabetic drugs to halt the scourge.
“There is nowhere in the world where diabetic patients pay 100 per cent for their treatment as in Nigeria. Here, high out of pocket medical expenses drive people into poverty and when we talk about universal health coverage, it means that people should be able to access the care they need without financial hardship,” he said
For Prof Anumah, educating people about diabetes will influence the quality of life they live and can actually make a difference between life and death.
She said, “millions are at risk of diabetes they need to be empowered to overcome it because diabetes is a serious and lifelong situation.
“People with diabetes need to be in control of the disease and not the other way round. I always tell patients that management of diabetes is the act of the possible meaning that the patients need to understand the disease and become their own doctor 50 per cent of the time.”
Anumah further observed that obesity is also a critical factor in developing diabetes.
“Excess weight comes when your body input is more than your expenditure; you have an imbalance height settles as fat. Fatness on its own can bring diabetes and hypertension with a family history.”
Five of the top 10 global disease burdens identified by the WHO- hypertension, high cholesterol, low intake of fruits and vegetables, high BMI, and lack of physical activities – independently are the major causes of lifestyle diseases like diabetes. This calls for a healthful eating habit.
“Our food is a major factor and convenience foods like sugar coated doughnuts, meat pies, ice creams and sugary drinks are time bombs. When you take all these, you stress the cell that produces these chemicals which helps the body to utilise everything we eat,” Anumah stated, adding that healthy eating starts with heavy breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day and that skipping it increases the blood sugar level in the body.
“A healthy diet containing vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, unsweetened yogurt and nuts can contribute to reducing the risk of diabetes,” she noted.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa in a message, pointed out that the need for robust diabetes prevention and control policies to promote healthy diets and physical activity at home, schools, workplaces and other settings has never been greater adding that public policies alone are not enough.
“I call on governments in the African Region to strengthen advocacy and raise public awareness on the benefits of healthy eating. There is also an urgent need for ministries of health to allocate adequate funds for essential medicines and technologies to ensure that early detection, treatment and regular follow up of diabetes is available to all,” the WHO chief said.
The Nigeria health minister for state, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who spoke through the director of public health at the Federal Ministry of Health said that diabetes aggravates poverty and social inequality.
“I call other line ministries like the Nigerian Customs, Ministries of Trade and Agriculture, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control to join the campaign as there is need to regulate across board,” he said.
By: Victor Okeke
Leadership News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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