BAGUIO CITY – A consultant of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) admitted the continuous increase in the number of diabetes cases in the country and the failure of about one-half of diabetes patients to know their illness is considered alarming.
Dr. Francis Pizarro, consultant of the BGHMC Department of Internal Medicine, said in urban centers, 7 percent of the population is affected with diabetes while 4 percent are in rural areas.
From 2012 to 2015, Pizarro revealed more than 1,200 patients were admitted for diabetes annually which represents 3 to 4 percent of the total hospital admissions every year.
“We call on the public to sustain a healthy lifestyle to combat the serious negative effects of the two types of diabetes that might affect their health condition. Unfortunately, some fifty percent of those with diabetes do not know that they already have the disease, thus, the importance of undergoing the medical checkup to detect the illnesses that they are suffering from,” Pizarro stressed.
The BGHMC consultant claimed the first type of diabetes involves the absence of insulin in the body while the second type of diabetes involves the excessive sugar in a person’s body.
He disclosed diabetes cases exponentially increased in the city based on the admissions in the hospitals from the period 1998 to 2000 and remained high up to this time.
He called on the public to lessen their intake of sweet, oily and fatty foods but instead increase the intake of foods rich in fiber to help one’s body regulate the digestion of food and lessen the threat of acquiring diabetes.
According to him, people who are obese must seek early medication to ascertain whether or not they have diabetes and for them to be provided with the proper medication to recover from the acquired illness.
At present, Pizarro claimed there are 8 million Filipinos who are sick with diabetes, thus, the need for the health department to intensify the cascading of its programs and projects to inform those infected with the disease how to lessen the impact of the illness on their health condition.
He explained one fourth of patients seeking consultations in the hospital’s internal medicine department are suffering from diabetes based on the available annual records from the hospital.
The consultant believes the best thing for people to do to identify their illness is to seek medical attention from the nearest health facility for them to be provided with the appropriate advice and medication to cure their illnesses and keep them healthy.
By HENT