For 65% of Maldivians, diabetes is a serious risk

65 percent of Maldivians, according to the Diabetes Society of Maldives (DSM), are at risk of getting diabetes.

DSM Chairperson Aishath Shiruhana said the organisation had done a nationwide diabetes test that had helped classify groups at risk of emerging the condition, at a press conference on Tuesday evening.

According to Shiruhana, 65% of individuals tested were at risk of acquiring diabetes in the most recent test.

"If no preventive steps are taken," she added, "the number of diabetes would climb."

This year, the DSM, in partnership with local governments, conducted screening programmes on several islands, according to Shiruhana.

A session analysing MPs and police officers was held last week, she said, in partnership with leisure groups.

Shiruhana claims that once the screening processes are completed, the organisation shares the data with the institutions, makes recommendations, and urges them to take corrective action.

While type 2 diabetes is more typically diagnosed in adults, the number of young people diagnosed with the condition is on the increasing, according to DMS's medical officer- Dr. Aminath Malha Saeed.

Type 2 diabetes is more common in people over 30 years old, according to Malha.

"Patients with type 2 diabetes, especially teenagers and children, have been reported to be overweight for their age. She stated, "They don't exercise on a regular basis and eat badly."

People with type 2 diabetes may benefit from prescription drugs, while people with type 1 diabetes have only one treatment option: insulin. It is still unknown what causes type 1 diabetes in youngsters.

"The children's bodies stop producing insulin on their own," the researcher explains. When it quits, people start showing signs of diabetes. She described her symptoms as "sudden weight loss, persistent thirst, or frequent urination."

DSM has already attracted 2,000 participants. One hundred and seventy-five of them suffer from type 1 diabetes.

"About a third of them live in the Male' area, while the other two-thirds live on atolls," according to the author."

Malha stressed the importance of putting diabetes prevention measures in place.