Tunde rushed out of his house heading to the office. Running late, he grabbed a wrap of cake and a can of soda from the fridge. This has been his daily routine for a long time as he barely has time for a proper breakfast. The fast life in Lagos made fixing a meal a huge task on weekdays.
Unknown to him, he is enlisting to be another 1 in every 17 adults with diabetes in Nigeria.
Diabetes is a chronic condition brought on by either insufficient insulin production by the pancreas or inefficient insulin utilisation by the body. A hormone called insulin controls blood sugar levels.
Uncontrolled diabetes frequently causes hyperglycemia, also known as high blood glucose or raised blood sugar, which over time can seriously harm many different bodily systems, including the neurons and blood vessels.
Diabetes exposes its victim to blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke, and lower limb amputation.
In Nigeria, a study estimated diabetes prevalence at 5.8 of the population. This indicates that 1 in 17 adults is living with the disease.
The research shows further that the prevalence rate of diabetes is highest in the South-South region of Nigeria and lowest in the North West.
However, this prevalence might be higher as many cases of diabetes in the country are not reported due to inadequate access to healthcare. More than half of those with the disease are unaware of their condition.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) data reveals that testing for diabetes is low or non-existent at Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.
As of 2021, there was “no general availability of diabetes testing (by blood glucose measurement, OGTT) at the primary healthcare level”, WHO recorded.
Globally, the number of people infected with diabetes rose by 74.41 per cent in 34 years. Data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows that diabetes prevalence increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. The increase is more prevalent in low and middle-income countries, of which Nigeria is one.
The disease resulted in the death of 2 million people directly and indirectly in 2019. The number of direct deaths stood at 1.5 million people and indirect deaths were 460,000 people, according to the World Health Organisation.
These deaths occur in ages 18 and 70 for diabetes victims. Age-standardised diabetes mortality rates increased by 3 per cent between 2000 and 2019 globally. In low and middle-income countries, the death rates rose 13 per cent.
Factors that predispose one to Diabetes
Of the 7 factors that predispose people to Diabetes, an unhealthy diet ranks as one with an 8% prevalence risk. The rest in descending order are old age (6.6%), Urban dwelling (6.0%), Obesity (5.3%), Physical inactivity (4.8%), Family history or genetics (4.6%), and Cigarette smoking (4.4%), according to a research conducted by Andrew E. Uloko and 7 others.
A Senior Lecturer at the Department of Food Science Technology at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Mr Shalem Shiekuma, said our lifestyle is one of the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. He added that our sedentary lifestyle exposes us to the dangers of type 2 diabetes.
“We consume a lot of energy-dense foods such as yam, cassava, and the like, and we drink a lot of alcohol. After which we sit at the office or at home (sedentary) without any form of activities to burn off this energy, this piles up in our body and makes us susceptible to diabetes,” Mr Shiekuma said.
An earlier report by Dataphyte revealed how the increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages exposes Nigerians to a higher chance of coming down with diabetes. It showed further that Nigerians are exposed to a 26 per cent risk of type two diabetes by the regular consumption of 1 to 2 cans a day of sugar-sweetened beverages.
Data shows a continuous increase in the volume of carbonated drinks (sugar-sweetened beverages) consumed per individual in Nigeria and it is expected to increase in the coming years.
As of 2022, each Nigerian took at least 26.22 litres of carbonated drinks in that year.
Sharing the results from his research, Shiekuma noted that of the two causes of diabetes (genetics and lifestyle), diabetes in urban areas results from lifestyle than genetics. The reverse is the case for rural dwellers.
According to him, those in rural areas walk and carry out physical activities and the like which burn off these extra sugar intake. But the sedentary lifestyle of those in urban areas with little or no physical exercise increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.
He concluded that modifying our lifestyle and a healthy diet is the key to preventing the disease.