Dr Osunbor Osariemen, a consultant nephrologist with the Central Hospital, Benin City, has raised an alarm over the increasing rate of Diabetes mellitus in Nigeria with a national prevalence rate of 4.3 per cent.
He stated this in Benin during a seminar organised by the hospital, in collaboration with Merck Pharmaceuticals and Life Science, to mark this year’s World Diabetes Day.
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Dr Osunbor, who is the Head, Internal Medicine at the hospital, said: “Diabetes mellitus is on the rise in Nigeria and we are beginning to see the conditions among younger age groups.”
He listed some of the causes of the disease as dietary and sedentary lifestyles, smoking and drinking alcohol and urbanisation, among others.
He said to reduce the scourge, there must be sustained awareness and sensitisation campaigns for people to know the risk factors and how to prevent them.
A nutritionist with the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Mrs Amenze Phil-Imade, urged diabetes sufferers to eat healthy food and in moderation to be able to effectively control the disease.
Earlier, Dr Omonyemen Bello, a Consultant Public Health Physician at the hospital, said the training was to improve the care of diabetes patients at the hospital’s support centre.
