Kochi: More than a quarter of the adults in Ernakulam, both men and women, have diabetes and high blood pressure (HBP) or high blood pressure. This is the population that is also prone to complications from Covid-19. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two most common comorbidities in Covid patients, which in some cases lead to poorer clinical outcomes.
Almost 26% of men and women have a high or very high sugar content and take medication for it, while it is 30% each for high blood pressure.
This emerges from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s health data sheet for the period 2019-20, which examined people over the age of 15.
“We were born of South Asian descent, genetically predisposed, and have two to three times the risk of developing coronary artery disease and diabetes. The only way to counteract this is to change your lifestyle, sleep seven to eight hours a day, and exercise, ”said Dr. Jothydev Kesavadev, diabetologist in Kerala.
Many government studies have shown that one in five of the population has diabetes and one in three has high blood pressure. This, along with poor control rates and high cost of treatment for these diseases, has made Kerala a center for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country.
Unhealthy eating practices and lack of physical activity in all population groups, regardless of age and economic status, have contributed to the rise in lifestyle diseases. Statistics show that 52% of all deaths in the age-productive age group between 30 and 70 are due to one cause or another of NCD.
“It is known that the more urbanized states have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure and diabetes. This can be related to an unhealthy lifestyle – eating habits, sedentary lifestyle, smoking and alcohol consumption, ”said Kochi-based doctor Dr. Sheetal Binu.
The widespread urbanization and modernization, which had penetrated to the base of the state regardless of the region and economic class, influenced the lifestyle of the population and made the state fertile for noncommunicable diseases.
In the post-Covid era, NCDs pose a major threat to the public health system, both in terms of morbidity, mortality and economic burden. Mortality and morbidity from lifestyle diseases now outweigh those from communicable diseases and child reproductive health problems combined.
Doctors are concerned that most patients with NCDs do not get regular checkups or take their prescribed medication.
“Almost 50% of patients do not know they have high blood pressure or diabetes until they develop complications, and of those who have been confirmed to have NCDs, many are not taking any prescribed medication. This leads to complications later, ”said Ernakulam General Hospital doctor Dr. TP Vijayan.
