Malaysia has 'alarming' number of diabetic adults

Article via Straits Times :

" KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia has the highest number of diabetics in Asean with an estimated 3.6 million adults affected by the condition, said the country's Obesity Prevention Council, calling this statistic "alarming".

The number also puts Malaysia in sixth place in the western pacific region, said council president Jong Koi Chong at the fourth national diabetes conference in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

More than 15 per cent of the adult population was diabetic, according to the latest study in 2011, almost double the rate of 8.6 percent in 2006, he said."

Malaysia : Sharp rise in number of young adults with diabetes

Via The Star :

" KUALA LUMPUR: An increasing number of young adults are suffering from diabetes, prompting the Health Ministry to now advise Malaysians who are 30 to go for diabetic screening.
A 2006 survey, the latest by the ministry, showed a sharp increase in the incidents of diabetes among Malaysians of 30 years’ old.

There was also a significant increase among the 18 to 19 age group.

“Because of the findings, we now recommend all Malaysians to go for diabetes screening if they are 30 and above, regardless of gender or whether they have other diseases,” said Dr Wan Mohamad Wan Bebakar, chairman of the ministry’s Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) task force.

Speaking at a press con-ference here, he said diabetes prevalence among adults, aged 30 to 34, was 4.9% and 15% among those aged 45 to 49, while the prevalence was 20% among those aged 50 and above."

Allergies and Diabetes as Risk Factors for Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever: Results of a Case Control Study

Via PLOS, an informative and important study, please read the whole article :

" Background

The physiopathology of dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), a severe form of Dengue Fever, is poorly understood. We are unable to identify patients likely to progress to DHF for closer monitoring and early intervention during epidemics, so most cases are sent home. This study explored whether patients with selected co-morbidities are at higher risk of developing DHF.

Methods

A matched case-control study was conducted in a dengue sero-positive population in two Brazilian cities. For each case of DHF, 7 sero-positive controls were selected. Cases and controls were interviewed and information collected on demographic and socio-economic status, reported co-morbidities (diabetes, hypertension, allergy) and use of medication. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the strength of the association between the co-morbidities and occurrence of DHF.

Results

170 cases of DHF and 1,175 controls were included. Significant associations were found between DHF and white ethnicity (OR = 4.70; 2.17–10.20), high income (OR = 6.84; 4.09–11.43), high education (OR = 4.67; 2.35–9.27), reported diabetes (OR = 2.75; 1.12–6.73) and reported allergy treated with steroids (OR = 2.94; 1.01–8.54). Black individuals who reported being treated for hypertension had 13 times higher risk of DHF then black individuals reporting no hypertension."

China : Diabetes threatens children

Via Xinhua :

" BEIJING, May 31 : Diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the biggest dangers to teenagers and even young children in China due to a serious lack of nutritional education, warn health experts.

It was confirmed last week that the country has the highest population of diabetics in the world, with more than 92 million sufferers.

According to figures from the Chinese Medical Doctors' Association, children make up about 5 percent of that figure. The number of juveniles with the potentially fatal condition is rising by 10 percent every year, a report by the association said.

But it is not just the impact on a child's health doctors are concerned about.

Discrimination toward diabetes can also seriously affect a sufferer's chances of finding a job or even getting accepted into college."