A silent killer on the rampage
by Peter Sibon, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on March 12, 2015, Thursday
Dr
Voon (left) and the secretary of the Diabetes Malaysia, Sarawak Branch,
Daniel Voon, speaking at The Borneo Post office in Kuching on Tuesday.
This startling statistic was revealed Dr William Voon, chairman of Diabetes Malaysia, Sarawak Branch to The Borneo Post and Utusan Borneo here on Tuesday.
He said the main reasons for the staggering number of sufferers in the country were poor diet and lack of exercise which led to obesity.
“In the past over 20 years the trend has been going up. And diabetes has been declared a epidemic in Malaysia as well as throughout the whole world.”
He believed the incidence of diabetes in Sarawak could be lower than the national average with 15-16 per cent of the population diabetic.
However, the figure could be misleading as the people in the state were generally reluctant to go for screening, he added.
Dr Voon explained that there are two types of diabetes; namely type one and type two.
Type one diabetics are those who with defects of their pancreas or who suffered from a bout of illness which resulted in the malfunction of the pancreas while type two diabetes which usually occurs later in life is caused by unhealthy lifestyle.
Most people afflicted by diabetes in Malaysia are in the type two category which is preventable.
“The people should be guided away from diabetes so that they would have better life and go for regular checkups,” Dr Voon said.
He disclosed that the Diabetes Resource Centre run by the association located at Maxwell Road here is ready to assist people who need more information on the disease.
“We are also promoting proper diet and healthy lifestyle such as exercise to those who are interested. On top of that we are also ready to reach out to various communities and target groups,” he said.
As diabetes is incurable at present, Dr Voon advised patients not to fall prey to any kinds of food supplements or treatment which claimed to be able to cure the disease.
“But we never know as in the time to come we may get the cure through stem cells, etc,” he said.
“Most impotently, live a healthy lifestyle and prevent oneself from getting obese as it is one of the main causes of the disease,” he said, adding that the people should cut down carbohydrate but more vegetables and protein instead.
Meanwhile, when contacted, State director of Heath Department Datu Zulkifli Jantan confirmed Dr Voon’s statements.
“We have been promoting healthy lifestyle among the people and we are also providing free health screening in our clinics,” he said.
Diabetes Malaysia (Sarawak) has branches in Sri Aman, Serian, Sibu, Bintulu, Limbang and Sarikei.
