Diabetes in the Philippines

 I live in a household where the word DIABETES is a norm. Sad but true. My lineage seemed to have all concentrated on this vicious chronic and lifestyle ailment; and it has claimed the lives of a lot of my relatives, I could count more than 10 just in my lifetime. It's scary and with my Dad and Mom's genes passed on to me, I could likely be a candidate if I don't take care of what I eat, my activities, and perhaps what I do everyday. There are various reasons on what causes this, but it is primarily a chronic disease. As some say, it is also a lifestyle disease. Just a few days ago, they announced quite disturbing data about it, which seems to confirm that it is happening in the Philippines. Just hearing that made me realize it's much closer than home, because I feel too that it is at an alarming rate. 

According to a study by the International Diabetes Federation, the Philippines is one of the world's emerging diabetes hotspots. Imagine, 4 Million Filipinos are suffering from Diabetes as we speak. That already puts us at the world stage with even a couple of million more that are unreported, or perhaps people that are unaware. IDF also reported 3.51 Filipinos at the age of 20-79 have it, and 51,127 have passed away because of it. Again, that's scary.

This chronic disease occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. So if it can't properly control the amount of sugar in the blood, you're in big trouble. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, rich or poor, everyone can be a candidate and it all boils down to one thing, you need prevention rather than cure. Data from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute from the Department of Science and Technology's 8th National Nutrition Survey indicates diabetes prevalence has risen from 3.4 percent in 2003 to 5.4 percent in 2013. You can just imagine how much that would be this 2017 if we had current data. 

What's also alarming is that a great number of Filipinos who suffer from it are ages 50 to 69. Most of which are wealthy and also living in urban communities. The Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the other hand is both a genetic and a lifestyle disease. It is also linked to old age, unhealthy diets, lack of physical activity, obesity (oh yeah you sit too much on the couch and in front of the computer!) and urbanization, all of which contribute to this disease. To control this, Doctors would recommend insulin to take care of the blood glucose levels. If you take care of that, you can get to have a normal and healthy life. Today, there are available syringes, insulin pens and insulin pumps so people who suffer from it could do what normal people would do. Of course, it all has to be monitored regularly so you and doctors would know if you have risks of developing hypo/hyperglycemia. Make sure you ask your doctor regularly if you are at risk, and do the annual/regular checkup if you can. As they say, knowing is half the battle. Try to live healthy as much as you can, and please trust your body.

Think about it.


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AstraZeneca and Recent Developments on Diabetes Treatments

We're at the AstraZeneca event today to know a little more about diabetes treatments and how you can save your future. Living with a family where it's loke a normal thing to have diabetes, I am absolutely scared about it but since bith my Mom and Dad has them I figured I probably don't have a choice but to live with it. Dr. Bobby Mirasol the former president of Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism (PSEDM) says "It's not an easy disease and you need early intervention, plus a deeper understanding of the need for lifestyle adjustments and pharma treatment". That means you need to have treatments and factors that should help in diabetes treatment so you can lower blood sugar levels, blood pressure and weight loss. It's not easy because you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and people would always have issues sticking to a plan. There are revolutionary drugs that you can take in order to make the goal easy to achieve.

AstraZeneca has introduced diabetes medicine and new drug entities to battle the disease. Their company is science driven and they've been trying to address how to manage weight issues, fatty liver disease, and other matters so they can bring potential medicines to the forefront and deliver life changing medicine for patients. They also want to push the boundaries of this science and pursue experimental treatment too. Dapagliflozin for example, it treats type 2 diabetes by preventing the kidneys to absorb sugar and release the glucose through the urine instead. It complements what you can say the normal prescription together with insulin therapy (if you are taking it). It did good in clinical trials and even beat leading diabetes medications too. 

In the Philippines, Dapagliflozin has been used to treat 20,000 Filipinos with Type 2 diabetes. It has been lauded for reducing blood levels and additional health benefits. It helps in making the patient gradually go to a good lifestyle change. They call it Diabesity, as these two things are intertwined and more overweight people develop type 2 diabetes and they hopefully want to address that. I am cringing right now because I feel they are talking about me LOL!

AstraZeneca is helping bigtime to fight type 2 diabetes. They want to use holistic diabetes care solutions together with Doctors, Nutritionists and Fitness Experts to do dapagliflozin treatments. If you need information about managing diabetes, please check out their website www.astrazeneca.com especially if you're looking for a second line of treatment. You have to ask your doctor of course and have a healthy lifestyle together with it.

Ciao!

KUMAGCOW

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Gary Valenciano Endorses DiabetaMil

Spent the afternoon at luxurious Victorinos in 11th Jamboree in QC. We were there to welcome DiabetaMil's newest brand ambassador Mr. Gary Valenciano. As we all know, if there's someone suffering from this ailment that has survived and enjoyed life throughout the years, Gary is somehow the epitomy of that. He's a great spirited dancer, he sings wonderfully anytime and he had brought diabetes care in the forefront that he always mentions these in interviews. 

"We believe that through the products that we have, we would make Filipino diabetic lives better. People with it can enjoy normal lives and we can have a healthy and beautiful life. We need to ensure diabetamil is available nationwide." 

This advertisement is a little different because we need to show that we can live a normal life. So we got my son to direct it for us, and he's here. 

Gary began telling us his story, he says "I was 14 years old and an athlete at La Salle but I was losing weight even if I ate a lot. I had my sugar level too high and my body was eating fat, my Mom saw that I was not gaining weight. First test I had 312 and had a normal diet. My sugar level went up as high as 722 and I confirmed that I had type 1 diabetes. The lifespan is actually 30 years when you get diagnosed, but I'm way over that. That's how it started. I always had to watch what I eat and put into my body. There are times when I met death a couple of times when my sugar levels go down and nobody could wake me up. It's a serious disease to have, much like cancer and heart attack. I have not endorsed anything that won't be able to use in the long run and Diabetamil is finally something good. Some say they are fat free, sugar free but tastes so bad. They need to have something in their diet with this in the mix, I do a lot of things and it's good that I can take it with any meal. Diabetes regardless of anything that comes with it isn't one thing, you need medication, lifestyle, excercise and diet. Diabetamil contains all the good things. Don't let diabetes control your life, you have to go out there and enjoy it! It's been a challenge these 37 years and I've had ups and downs, but I'm living it and doctors in the US ought to give me an award for living beyond the years that books say."

Diabetamil is okay to take by type 1 and 2 diabetes patients, you may need to consult your doctor for proper meal planning. It costs Php 220 and Php 485 for the bigger one and. It doesn't taste different as the cookie and drink and is available in Vanilla, Chocolate and Mochachino at all leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide!

KUMAGCOW

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