Dr. Mariam Harmas said the new BDI million diabetes education center announced will have a gym, swimming pool and the Bahrain Diabetes Society offices. The announcement came as a 26-year old woman advised people to follow their doctor's order so that they won't lose their kidney and feet like what happened to her for ignoring her diabetes.
The center for rehabilitation and diabetes education will be located in A'ali. They are requesting sponsors for the project and giving statistics on the number of type 1 diabetics that has grown to more than twice from 1993 figures in Bahrain.
The consultant pediatrician at the Salmaniya Medical complex, Dr. Mansoor Rajab, said the number is still growing. Dr. Rajab is also a diabetologist and endocrinologist. He said that the figure in 1993 showed that seven to eight people per 100,000 had type 1 diabetes. Now that number has grown to 20 people suffering from type 1 diabetes out of every 100,000.
In Bahrain, there are now 1000 children suffering from type 1 diabetes, Dr. Rajab added. And the statistics for type 2 diabetes is not any better. Due to inactive lifestyle and unhealthy meals, the number of type 2 sufferers is also growing. Diabetes now affects 35% of women and 25% of men.
The discussion on the alarming statistics was held when the 2007 ambassador of ACHC (Arab Children Health Congress) Habiba Al Tawqi visited Bahrain and spoke to diabetic children. She said it is very important to control diabetes by taking the medication and changing lifestyle.
Ms. Tawqi said she lost both her feet and kidney because she didn't take her medication regularly and didn't eat a healthy diet. She is a graduate of Omani tourism and has been diabetic starting at two years old. But she only started her problem in 1998 when she rebelled against her parents and doctors and didn't follow their advice.
But now she learned how to fight because she does not want to lose anything more. Her goal is to talk to as many teenagers as possible so they will understand the condition better. The wife of the ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Princess Haya bint Al Hussain, sponsored Ms. Tawqi's visit.
The head of the Health and Medical Services in Dubai, Wafaa Ayesh, said people with diabetes could live a long life with a healthy lifestyle and medication. By this lifestyle, he meant, eating a healthy diet and having enough physical activity.
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