About 3.9 million Malaysians aged 18 and over live with diabetes. – Image from Pxhere.com
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 – Diabetes remains a major non-communicable disease in Malaysia, affecting 3.9 million of the population with a prevalence of 18.3 percent.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Citing the results of the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey, consulting endocrinologist Dr. Foo Siew Hui, the worrying factor is an increase in the rate of prediabetes in Malaysia.
According to Dr. Foo refers to prediabetes to people with borderline diabetes that were potentially preventable through lifestyle changes.
If left untreated, however, this group of people would eventually develop diabetes in the near future
To the uninitiated, diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body does not produce insulin or use it efficiently – resulting in high blood sugar levels.
“The number of prediabetes cases rose from 8.8 percent in 2015 to 23.6 percent in 2019.
“That is almost a quarter of the population who have not yet developed diabetes, but who will become one if nothing drastic can be done for them.”
Dr. Foo noted that it was worrying to see a significant proportion of young Malaysians with diabetes.
She said that in 2019, 38.4 percent of all diabetics in Malaysia were under 50, putting them at risk of developing diabetes-related health complications.
“This can even lead to a loss of work ability as well as negative social and economic effects in the country,” said Dr. Foo, who is also the honorary treasurer of the Malaysian Endocrine and Metabolic Society (Mems).
Referring to a recent study, Dr. Foo that they found that young people with diabetes were at higher risk for diabetes-related health problems such as heart, kidney, eye, and nerve disorders than older ones because they tend to live longer with the disease.
On the breakdown of the prevalence of diabetes in Malaysia, Dr. Foo that the distribution of risk between people living in rural and urban areas is almost the same.
“In terms of ethnicity, however, the prevalence is higher among Indians, followed by Malays and then Chinese.”
Dr. Foo said the main cause of developing diabetes is obesity, as a whopping 60 percent of diabetics are either abnormal in body weight or obese.
She also noted that there has been a progressive increase in disease-related complications related to diabetes in recent years.
“The prevalence of heart disease in people with diabetes rose from 5.4 percent in 2013 to 5.9 percent in 2019, while the incidence of stroke and cerebrovascular disease in diabetics rose from 1.3 percent to 1.8 over the same period Percent has risen.
“However, the proportion of diabetes patients with kidney disease has risen dramatically from 8.8 percent to 14.6 percent within six years.”
Dr. Foo said cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of diabetes in Malaysia, with a prevalence of 15 percent.
Dr. Foo shared the findings in a webinar jointly organized by Mems and AstraZeneca Malaysia to present the results of the first Malaysian Diabetes Index (MDI).
The MDI, which surveyed 2,539 participants, recently found that there is still a large awareness gap among Malaysians about diabetes.
Dr. Foo said insufficient knowledge of diabetes and its complications is one of the barriers to diabetes management in Malaysia.
“Other factors include impaired health literacy, inadequate self-care, resistance to intensification of treatment, and sub-optimal adherence to therapeutic lifestyle changes and medication.”
However, she noted that the barriers faced by health care providers include an imbalance in the care burden in public and private hospitals, as well as a lack of access to diabetes self-management training and support from certified diabetes nurse trainers.
“A lack of familiarity with the rapidly evolving, increasingly demanding standards of care for diabetes, delays in intensifying treatment, and rising (direct and indirect) health costs are other obstacles that need to be considered.”
