9.2pc of citizens ‘diabetic in the Kingdom’

9.2 per cent of the total number of citizens in the Kingdom suffer from diabetes, it was revealed.      

The number of diabetic citizens in Bahrain has reached 63,805, the Ministry of Health has said. The ministry revealed that Bahrain has the least percentage of diabetes when compared to other Gulf countries. In Kuwait it is 19pc, 18pc in Qatar, 17pc in Saudi Arabia, 15pc in the UAE, and Oman 13.5pc. More than 100 million US adults are now living with diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to a new report released yesterday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report finds that as of 2015, 30.3m Americans – 9.4pc of the US population – have diabetes. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. In 2016, an estimated 1.6m deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Another 2.2m deaths were attributable to high blood glucose in 2012. Diabetes can be treated and its consequences avoided or delayed with diet, physical activity, medication and regular screening and treatment for complications. “Simple lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes.

“To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:achieve and maintain healthy body weight; be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days,” the WHO stated. “More activity is required for weight control; eat a healthy diet, avoiding sugar and saturated fats intake; and avoid tobacco use – smoking increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases,” the agency added.