‘Regular Exercise Can Control Diabetes

As Nigeria joins the rest of the international community to mark the World Diabetes Day, the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has said that healthy lifestyle which involves balanced diet and regular exercise can control diabetes.

The Minister made this revelation yesterday in his message to Nigerians on World Diabetes Day. The United Nations sets aside November 14 of every year as Word Diabetes Day.

Diabetes, often referred to by doctors as diabetes mellitus, describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both.

The International Diabetes Federation, IDF, estimates that about 415 million people have diabetes in the world and more than 14 million people in the African region; by 2040 this figure will more than double. In Nigeria alone, the IDF data shows that there were more than 1.56 million cases of diabetes in Nigeria in 2015.

Adewole said that Federal Government was committed to increasing awareness on Diabetes and how to control it. He said:“Federal Government is committed to stepping up advocacy to create awareness that diabetes is preventable if people change their life style.

When you watch what you eat, when you exercise regularly, you can definitely stay away from diabetes, but in case you discovered that you have it, you can manage it.”

The Minister urged the general public to enrol with the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as such would reduce the cost any medication. Adewole also encouraged members of the public to go for diabetics screening to know their status.

He further stressed that diabetes is preventable and can only be prevented through healthy lifestyle. According to the United States, U.S. Centre for Disease Control, CDC, the prevalent of diabetes among blacks is particularly high.

For instance, blacks are 1.7 times as likely to develop diabetes as whites. Besides, the prevalence of diabetes among blacks has quadrupled during the past 30 years.

Among blacks age 20 and older, about 2.3 million have diabetes – 10.8 per cent of that age group. Furthermore, blacks with diabetes are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop diabetes and to experience greater disability from diabetesrelated complications such as amputations, adult blindness, kidney failure, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Similarly, death rates for blacks with diabetes are 27 per cent higher than for whites.A