LAGOS – Mr Obi Madubogwu, Nollywood Veteran and Saving Life for Africa Diabetics Foundation (SLAD) founder, on Friday said that lives could be saved if Nigerians were more aware of diabetics.
Madubogwu said this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of a diabetes awareness campaign hosted by SLAD in conjunction with Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that over 200 people have been screened at Orile and then more at Ojuelegba as part of a World Diabetics Day screening and awareness walk exercise organized by SLAD and the Actors Guild.
According to Madubogwu, diabetes is a condition caused by high blood sugar that could have very serious side effects if it is not properly managed.
The actor said that diabetic symptoms which included weight loss, increased hunger, increased thirst and increased urination were easily ignored that so many people did not get a diagnosis on time.
“Today is World Diabetics Day and we are creating awareness about diabetes management, early detection and how people can know their status.
“We have noticed a high sugar level in a majority of the people that we have tested so far, some even up to 400 mg/dL and they did not know it,” he said.
Madubogwu said that in a healthy person, the sugar level should be between 82 to 110 mg/dL and that the higher it was the more serious the health risk.
Mrs Ngozi Charles-Osuagwu, a nurse heading SLAD’s medical team, told NAN that diabetes is a sugar related disease.
“Presently there is no cure for diabetes but it can be managed, it is not a death sentence if recognised on time,” she said.
Charles-osuagwu said that was caused by the inability of an individual’s body to make use of the sugar in their system because of a particular enzyme called insulin.
“Insulin converts blood sugar to glucose, for metabolism and other body activities.
“Diabetics occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or when the cells of the body do not respond properly to the insulin,” she said.
Charles-Osuagwu said that because the body cannot make use of the sugar, it just keeps circulating in the blood making the person tired and unable to carry out normal tasks.
She said that diabetes also affected other organs of the body, including the kidneys and eyes.
She said that it hindered blood supply to parts of the body that are far from the heart and as a result leg injuries in diabetics took longer time to heal.
“Such a person can come down with diabetic foot gangrene which can result in amputation, a life treating infection called septicemia and death,” she said.
She said that people could reduce their risk of developing diabetes if they watched their diet and exercised frequently.
NAN reports that the theme for the 2014 World Diabetes Day is “Healthy Living and Diabetes”.(NAN)
