JEDDAH: With one in every four people in this part of the world suffering from diabetes, the disease is a looming epidemic that will go out of control any time unless both patients and care providers take preventive measures, health experts warned on World Diabetes Day on Saturday.

“The disease is spreading so rapidly that soon there will be a diabetic among every three people here,” said Dr. Maarouf Haj Mohideen, director for academic affairs and consultant obstetrics and gynecology, at a workshop held at Dr. Soliman Fakeeeh Hospital.

“The most disturbing fact is that more and more children and youngsters are falling prey to the disease due to changing lifestyles, junk food, less physical work and stress,” he said during the workshop.

The treatment of diabetes and its associated complications is expensive since it is a chronic condition. “And as the cost burden imposed by the disease is not only on patients and their families but also on society as a whole there is a need to spread awareness about preventive care,” Mohideen added.

There were presentations on the prevention and management of diabetes, as well as educational lectures on Type Two diabetes.

Simple measures like daily and regular physical activity, maintaining optimum weight and cutting off extra calories with increased consumption of green vegetables and fruit are likely to be potentially beneficial in preventing diabetes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that globally at least 180 million people have diabetes. Roughly 90 percent have what’s called Type Two diabetes, caused by the body’s ineffective use of insulin.

“You can blame it on the food that is too high in fat and sugar, or you can blame it on a lack of exercise, or both. But according to the World Health Organization, hundreds of millions of people around the world are gaining weight, and the fatter they get, the greater their risk of diabetes,” an expert warned.

Obesity and physical inactivity are common conditions associated with Type Two diabetes. WHO projects that 330 million to 360 million people will be diagnosed as diabetics by the year 2030.

Doctors have preached diet and exercise, especially brisk walking, swimming, dancing and cycling to patients for decades. Now researchers have noticed that high levels of one fat-producing hormone is not such a bad thing after all.