Last year, around 3,860 respondents from the Philippines, Hongkong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam aged 25 years old and above were surveyed regarding the rise of diabetic patients in Asia. About 77% said that diabetes is inherited, 32% are willing to change their diets to support a family member with diabetes and 47% are willing to exercise together with a diabetic family member to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Based on the study that Sun Life Financial Asia Diabetes Awareness program released, more and more people from Asia are being diagnosed with the disease, showing that this is no longer just a problem in the United States. Out of the five-country that was surveyed, the Philippines is the one who has diabetic patients that are growing on an alarming rate.
Around 5 million Filipinos are diagnosed with diabetes, out of a population of 100 million. In 2017, around 50,000 Filipinos died due to diabetes-related complications such as kidney failure, heart failure, stroke, and heart attack.
Our pancreas is responsible for the release of insulin; it is a hormone that helps distribute sugar from our blood to our cells and convert them into energy. If you have diabetes, the pancreas produces too much insulin, or it does not produce it at all, making your insulin resistant. The concentration of sugar will increase in your blood, and that is when diabetes starts.
People need to keep in mind that diabetes is a lifelong disease. It will require maintenance, regular check-ups, a change in lifestyle, and numerous restrictions when it comes to food intake. Also, diabetes can be inherited, which is why health experts encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle as early as possible, in order not to pass it down to the next generation in their family.
The change in the way that we eat can be one of the reasons to blame for the sudden increase in diabetic patients, especially in Asia. Food chains that are now globalized offer sweets and sugary drinks that are more accessible than healthy food. It also does not help that for Asian countries, rice is a staple food, and rice has tons of sugar.
Experts encourage people to eat more fruits and less sugary food, to drink more water instead of sodas, and to exercise more or at least be more active by walking or running to combat diabetes. There is nothing wrong with enjoying sweets once in a while, but everything must be in moderation.
