Simple diet, exercise can help control diabetes

LAHORE : The Postgraduate Medical Institute Principal Prof Al-Freed Zafar said that to stay safe from diabetes and other diseases and avoid health hazards, people must prefer simple food and home-cooked items to avoid fast & junk items, cold drinks especially sugar as much as possible. He observed that it should be a daily routine to go for a walk and not only improve health but also save the expenses incurred on medicines and treatment.

Similarly, fats, ghee, fried foods and poultry items are the main reasons for fatness and gaining weight which greatly increases the chances of diabetes, blood pressure, heart and liver diseases. These views were expressed by Prof Al-Freed Zafar while talking to patients and their attendants at the LGH Diabetes Outdoor Clinic.

MS Dr Faryad Hussain, Prof Shandana Tariq, Dr Maleeha Hameed, Dr Muhammad Maqsood, Dr Adnan Masood, Dr Aziz Fatima were also present on the occasion.

Dr Muhammad Maqsood told Principal PGMI / AMC in a briefing about the Diabetes Outdoor Clinic that this year about 34,000 patients were medically examined and as per the policy of the Punjab government, they were also provided with diagnostic tests, medicines and free insulin as well.

Prof Al-Fareed told the LGH administration that the rapid increase in the number of diabetics in Pakistan is of great concern so in this regard, it is the responsibility of health professionals to provide complete counselling to the patients along with treatment so that people can be made more aware about diabetes. He added that diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, paralysis and loss of limbs but our people fall victim to this disease at a very young age. However, diabetes can be kept under control with precautions, medicines, exercise and diet.

Principal PGMI highlighted that although diabetes is not a contagious disease, it is currently widespread throughout the world, including Pakistan and this disease has the ability to be transmitted from parents to children even genetically.

He further said that improper diet, obesity and a careless lifestyle are the main causes of this disease and if someone in the family has diabetes, then there is a strong possibility of another person to suffer similarly.

He said that diabetes is the mother of all diseases which gives birth to numerous health hazards. Moreover, pregnant women are not immune to its harmful diseases and the effects of sugar on people with already weak health prove to be very fatal in this regard.

Prof Al-Freed directed Dr Muhammad Maqsood to prominently display banners related to diabetes prevention, symptoms, and complications in the hospital premises. MS Dr Faryad Hussain, while talking, said that no permanent and complete cure for diabetes has been discovered yet, however, by taking proper precautions and in time steps, a person can live a healthy life by controlling diabetes.

61 new dengue cases reported

The Punjab Health Department confirmed on Sunday that 61 new cases of dengue fever were reported across the province in the last 24 hours. Among the districts, Rawalpindi recorded the highest number of cases with 48, followed by Lahore with four, Attock with three, and Chakwal and Faisalabad each with two. Single cases were also reported in Sahiwal and Sialkot. In the current week alone, 494 new cases have emerged, bringing the total number of the cases in Punjab to 7,395.