A British organization warned on Wednesday that the number of people with diabetes not getting the right tests is “deeply worrying”, with more than seven thousand deaths linked to the disease last year, highlighting the importance of regular testing. , according to experts.

The system specifiesFor diabetes in the United Kingdom Only 47 per cent of people with diabetes in England received all eight tests last year, meaning 1.9 million people were not getting the care they needed.

Key health checks often don’t happen, he said, and the consequences are dire.

Ahmad Shawqi Hijazi, a diabetes specialist at King Abdullah Hospital in Saudi Arabia, believes that “statistics in Arab countries do not differ and may be worse for other conditions.”

“Unfortunately, there are many people who don’t know they have diabetes, especially type 2 and not type 1, which is more common in children,” he said, adding that the actual number of patients may be higher. Double the announced number.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates the level of glucose in the blood. Hyperglycemia, also known as high blood glucose, is a common result of an imbalance in blood sugar control, and over time it causes serious damage to many body systems, especially nerves and blood vessels.

Hegazy says, “Almost half of diabetics do not know they have the disease, because the complications of the disease are not detected without screening programs, and it is only diagnosed when complications such as the heart, eyes, nerves or its damage. Kidneys, it is done by people in poor countries from time to time. In addition to the lack of experiments.”

He adds, “There are blood sugar tests that show problems related to blood pressure and blood cholesterol, as well as periodic tests every six months or a year, heart tests, electrocardiograms and cardiac studies, according to the patient’s risk and risk factors.” Kidney and neurological tests and eye tests because diabetes affects the retina and worsens vision.”

According to the World Health Organization, “the number of people with diabetes increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.”

“Diabetes prevalence is increasing faster in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries,” the organization asserts.

According to the organization’s statistics, “In 2014, 8.5 percent of people aged 18 years and older had diabetes. In 2019, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths, 48 ​​percent of which were before puberty. In people over 70, kidney disease caused by diabetes The disease killed another 460,000 people, and high blood glucose caused 20 percent of deaths from cardiovascular disease.

However, Hegazi notes, “During the corona epidemic, many patients did not receive treatment, unfortunately due to the closure, some clinics and hospitals were affected, some of them were isolated, which affected the level of sugar control, and unfortunately complications and side effects appeared over time.”

Diabetes UK data shows that by 2022, diabetes-related excess deaths in England will increase by 13 per cent compared to pre-epidemic levels.

According to the organization, the increase in deaths is not limited to the epidemic, as “the situation worsened in the first part of 2023, with 1,461 excess deaths occurring between January and March, three times more than the same period last year. .”

Hegazi says: “There are many patients who underestimate or do not appreciate the seriousness of the disease and do not care about getting treatment or a lifestyle of sports or nutritional food. Diabetes takes time for its symptoms to appear, and unfortunately, not all of its complications are treated.”

He adds, “We only try to minimize the impact of complications of the disease, but God forbid, if there is damage to the retina, kidneys, heart or nerves, these are difficult to resolve, but we try to stop the progression of the disease or its impact on the patient.”

In recently released statistics International Diabetes Federation In 2021, the number of people with diabetes in the world will reach 537 million people, which is an increase of 74 million patients from the previous report, because the majority of patients in developing and middle-income countries are suffering from type 1 and type 2 disease.

As for the Middle East region, Egypt is the first Arab country in the number of people diagnosed with this disease, with about 11 million cases, followed by Saudi Arabia with 4.3 million, followed by Sudan with 3.5 million diabetics.

The region also has a high proportion of diabetes-related deaths (24.5 percent), with the number of deaths reaching about 428 thousand cases in 2021.

Hegazy advises diagnosed patients to adhere to treatment appointments, see a doctor, and follow the doctor’s advice regarding treatment, sports nutrition and diet.

For those who are undiagnosed, Hegazi advises, “People with a family history of the disease should get regular checkups every six months or a year to control their sugars.”