• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Medical expert tasks Nigerians on diabetes test

Medical expert tasks Nigerians on diabetes test

Adeniyi Bukola, consultant family physician and travel medicine physician at Q –Life Family Clinic has advised Nigerians to go for a diabetes test to ensure early detection of the disease.

She gave the advice during founder’s day in honour of late Olufunmilayo Alakija with the theme ‘health is wealth’ focusing on diabetes mellitus.

Q-Life Family Clinic was founded out of a need and desire to solve the problems we identified in the Nigerian healthcare system. The name “Q-Life” (Quality Life) was derived from a need to encourage people to promote and adopt a healthy lifestyle. Many diseases can be prevented or their consequences minimised by change of lifestyle. This is critical to management of all chronic ailments. The “family” infers that the health services are for all – children, adults, and the elderly. The “Clinic” connotes it is an out-patient facility, said Bukola.

In her presentation, Bukola described diabetes as “when your blood glucose (sugar) is too high, and a diagnosing of diabetes mellitus is when the fasting blood sugar is greater than FPG (= >7.0mmol/l) or the Random blood sugar is greater than (RPG=>11.1mmol/l).”

“Recent studies show more young people starting lives with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes as a result of poor diet and/or physical fitness while at school, and risk factors for type 2 diabetes/prediabetes include High Body Mass Index (BMI), little or no physical activity and family history of diabetes,” said Bukola.

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She noted that three major diabetes types can develop which are type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes, adding that people with type I diabetes are insulin-dependent, which means they must take artificial insulin daily to stay alive.

She further explained that people with prediabetes are, however, at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, although they do not usually experience the symptoms of full diabetes, adding that complications from diabetes can cause cardiovascular disease, Kidney and eye damage, hearing impairment and depression.

“Changing your lifestyle could be a big step toward diabetes prevention — and it’s never too late to start. Healthy lifestyle goes a long way in preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus,” Bukola advised.

However, speaking about the founder, Ade Alakija, the executive director, Q-Life Family Clinic, said Q-Life Family Clinic was an initiative that involved promoting and adopting a healthy lifestyle; it was a plan by his wife.

He said that the clinic was established in the year 2000, noting that his late wife stood for quality and understood compassion. “She made it a duty to care and everybody will tell you that was part of her strength.

“Since her demise, Q-Life Family Clinic has enlarged and strengthened its board; facility structures have been put in place all in a bid to ensure capacity to deliver and we actively keep this dream alive,” said Alakija.