Extra Than 7.5 Million Malaysians Are At Threat Of Creating Diabetes, Native Physician Says | Information

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Malaysians love to eat, and to prove it, we are already known as the most obese nation in Southeast Asia.

Soon we’ll also be known as the “cutest” nation if we don’t do anything about it.

The country has seen an increase in the rate of prediabetes recently, Malay Mail reported.

The consulting endocrinologist Dr. Quoting the results of the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019, Foo Siew Hui told the news portal that the rate of prediabetes (prediabetes refers to those who suffer from borderline diabetes) has increased steadily in recent years.

“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 will if nothing drastic can be done for them,” she was quoted as saying.

The rise in prediabetes cases is worrying when you consider that around 3.9 million of the Malaysian population are currently struggling with the non-communicable disease, with a prevalence of 18.3 percent.

To make matters worse, added Dr. Foo also added that a significant proportion of young Malaysians are living with the disease.

In 2019, 38.4 percent of all diabetics in Malaysia were under the age of 50, putting them at risk of developing diabetes-related health complications.

She added that diseases associated with diabetes, such as heart, kidney, eye, and nerve disorders, were also more common in young diabetics as they live longer with the disease.

Dr. Foo said obesity was the top contributing factor in developing diabetes, as a whopping 60 percent of diabetics are either abnormal in body weight or obese.

She also said that diabetes-related health complications have increased in recent years, with cardiovascular disease remaining the leading cause of death.

Wow, those numbers definitely put things into perspective. It is high time we took care of our health and a healthy diet, guys.