Dr. Matthew Fink, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Interim Chairman and Neurologist-in-Chief of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, announced that women may be in danger if they delay pregnancy until a later age. He said so at the monthly community health seminar, Medicine & U moderated by Professor Basim M. Uthman at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha “The increasing prevalence of hypertension, cardiac disease, obesity and diabetes also adds to the risk of stroke for mothers”. According to latest researches, diabetes, obesity and hypertension are highly spreading among women in Qatar and the Middle East. Cardiovascular diseases will be a major health problem due to this high prevalence of obesity and hypertension.

In USA over the past 15 years; pregnancy-associated stroke has increased as mentioned in a recent national study which showed that women with stroke during pregnancy, or soon after giving birth reached 54% in the past 12 years. Also higher volume of blood in the body, high blood pressure, blood clots and migraine headaches may lead to stroke. Dr. Fink said “Stroke prevention should focus on risk factor reduction, particularly hypertension, and older women should seek excellent prenatal care. Practical lifestyle changes including weight reduction, regular exercise, a healthy diet and less salt in the diet can help to lower high blood pressure. In vitro fertilization also raises a host of new questions and potential problems that require study, especially in older women”

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A partnership between Omani and Qatari healthcare institutions will be addressed with a focus on diabetes prevention and treatment. Muscat Daily met with Dr Javaid Sheikh, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, who presented a paper on ‘The role of academic health systems in improving healthcare of a country: Implications for Oman‘. He said during the recent Oman Health Care Expansion Summit “We have established a center focusing on diabetics, which has basic science, translation and clinical centers with advanced genetics laboratories. We examine diabetic patients by using second generation sequence row to identify genes that cause the disease”.

He added “We have found some of the genes which predispose the Qatari population to diabetics, and plan to identify them in the other GCC countries with the same methods. We are also looking to expand our collaboration with the Ministry of Health in the field of medical research for the benefit of humanity. Being the first center in this part of the world for stem cell study, we are looking at the applications of research. As is already known, we can use stem cells to cure cancer and other diseases, and our research focuses on this aspect”.

A new technology and treatment will be developed after getting the results of the rese-arch to heal cancer and diabetics, and to minimize disabilities arising from heart disease. Dr Sheikh commented “We have initiated a program to predict the gender of the date palm tree for the first time. This will make a big difference in breeding, and will help to find out genetic risk factors as well. We are patenting a few applications that will prevent disease and produce good quality crop, and will be made available very soon. I think Oman has a wonderful five year program in place and the healthcare system is very good. What is needed now is to get to the next step in research. My paper at the summit was on the academic health science system and how we can transform it by bringing in new ideas and models”.

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The National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics (NCDEG) published its last study showing that the number of diabetic Jordanians aged 25 years and above is increasing. The rate was 30% but within 2050; three million Jordanians are expected to be diabetic. As per NCDEG figures; about 70% of all deaths in Jordan are caused by diabetes. NCDEG Director General Kamel Ajlouni explained that globally 366 million people are currently fighting diabetes which leads to kidney failure, blindness, and heart failure and retinal problems.

Those statistics were announced at last week at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes which related to this week’s UN meeting that will also focus on noncommunicable diseases (NCD). Topics that will be covered include diabetes, cancer and heart diseases, according to Ajlouni. He said “We were one of the first countries to develop a national strategy for prevention from noncommunicable diseases, with diabetes topping the list, and it will be discussed this week in the UN meeting”. Mohammad Zaheri, head of the Jordanian Society for the Care of Diabetes mentioned that JD1.2 billion will be spent on diabetes care in 2011 by Jordanians.

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Hoping to fast the coming holy month of Ramadan, Abu Dhabi diabetic patients have been advised by doctors in the capital to undergo a series of medical examinations and consult with their physicians. Dr. Suzan Gharaibeh, Consultant Endocrinologist and Diabetologist, Al Noor Hospital, said “People with diabetes have increased risks for additional medical issues associated with this disorder, such as heart disease and renal complications”. She added “So for those that want to fast, it is recommended that they first undertake a series of examinations to ensure that their bodies would be able to handle the long fasting hours”.

Due to factors such as age and whether patients have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes or any additional medical conditions, they must revise their doctors as they may be told not to fast. Dr. Gharaibeh revealed that “Those with Type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin so they are more at risk of fluctuations in their blood sugar levels compared to those with Type 2 diabetes who have some insulin present”.

Dr. Arif Vayalilparambath, Specialist, Internal Medicine, Lifeline Hospital, commented “However, both have to be extremely careful when fasting. If their blood sugar drops to a very low level it may cause heart palpitations and difficulty in speaking, while if their insulin increases it could lead to rapid breathing and Diabetic Ketoacidosis [increased acid levels in the blood]”.

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Dr. Zuhair Al-Ghareebi, director of the National Diabetes Center and head of the campaign for early detection of diabetic patients in the Kingdom announced that Saudi Arabia is occupying third place in the world in number of diabetes cases. Al-Ghareebi asked the public and private health institutions to help people aged above 30 in determining whether they have high blood sugar or not through free check up.

He said “Saudi Arabia holds third position worldwide in the number of diabetic patients, just after the United Arab Emirates, which holds second position, while Bahrain and Kuwait hold fourth and fifth positions respectively”, explaining that changing lifestyle, conducting regular physical exercises and early detection of diabetes can help 60% of people to avoid the disease.

He added “Until now no cure has been found for diabetes, although there is treatment that can help people maintain normal lives”. Stem cell research can be the only hope for better treatments for diabetes as scientists across the world expect. Through this research, scientist maybe able to better explore ways to control and direct stem cells by growing them into other cells, such as insulin-producing cells. More than 50% of Saudi citizens suffer from obesity. Therefore, 20 new diabetes centers across the Kingdom were built to address the disease by the government.

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According to a senior expert from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), around 15% of Qatar‘s population is affected by Diabetes, which is a major health problem that represents about 10% the country’s healthcare expenditure. During the17th International Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism (DALM) Symposium on diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in Doha, Dr. Mahmoud Zirie, Consultant-Head of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Department at HMC, mentioned that Qatar is directing more investments in diabetes care and prevention than other GCC countries.

Dr. Zirie said “Diabetes as a healthcare problem leads to associated micro vascular and macro vascular complications, such as coronary artery disease, stroke, end-stage renal disease, and retinopathy and foot ulcers. It is estimated that diabetes takes up 10% of healthcare expenditures in the society. With high prevalence of affective disorders adversely impacting employment, absentees and work productivity, the overall cost to the economy is huge” He highlighted the role played by HMC in solving the problem of diabetes, especially among Qatari population, saying that “They have a specialized team of physicians, diabetes educators, dietitians and podiatrists. The results of such a diabetes program at HMC have yielded impressive results”.

There were many presentations on diabetes and metabolic diseases from several other experts from Qatar and abroad. The organizers revealed that this symposium aims to update physicians, especially in the Middle East, on the recent research regarding the prevention and pharmacological treatment of diabetes, obesity and related cardio metabolic disorders.

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According to an expert, the need for endocrinologists all over the world is increasing due to raising incidence of diabetes. Yesterday, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) held its first conference for establishing a training program on endocrinology. Hamad Medical Corporation and Qatar Diabetes Association in collaboration with the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) held the First International AACE-Gulf Conference on Diabetes, Obesity and other Endocrine Diseases, which was opened by the Minister of Public Health and the Secretary-General of Supreme Council of Health H E Abdullah bin Khalid Al Qahtani.

Jeffrey R Garber, Secretary, AACE said that In the US, most of diabetes problems are translatable in the international arena, mainly in Qatar and the region. Jeffrey commented to the Peninsula “However increasing diabetes cases in Qatar is a huge problem, the point is how many of them see an endocrinologist. And the question is there enough endocrinologists to meet the needs of diabetic patients here? In the US the number of endocrinologists is much less than the required.”

Yearly, about 250 to 300 fellows are being trained by AACE using several techniques to treat diabetes patients. Dr Adullah Al Hamaq, Executive Director, QDA mentioned “AACE is considered a reference for all endocrinologists and dialectologist in the world beside the organization doing lots of studies on diabetes. It’s expected to discuss the suggestions put forward by the experts in the end of the meeting in order to improve the diabetes care in Qatar”.

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