MindanaoToday.com | DOH: Diabetes among top causes of death in Normin
By: Uriel Quilinguing
For the first six months this year, the cause of death of 92 patients in Northern Mindanao was diabetes, a chronic disease characterized by high blood sugar levels which, if not managed, could be fatal due to its complications, a health agency regional official said.
Last year, the Department of Health Region 10 (DOH-10) tagged 529 deaths under diabetes mellitus (the scientific name of diabetes) and was among the top five leading causes of death in the region, just behind ischemic heart disease, neoplasms, pneumonia, and cardiovascular diseases.
Bukidnon tallied the most with 238, Misamis Occidental 132, Lanao del Norte 66, Misamis Oriental 64, and Camiguin 29 for the entire 2023. Since January until June this year, Bukidnon posted the most with 36, Lanao del Norte 28, Misamis Oriental 14, Misamis Occidental 7, and Camiguin 4.
In 2023, there were 2,452 individuals who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, and 1,937 for the first semester this year.
Physician Tristan Jediah Labitad, who heads the non-communicable diseases cluster of DOH-10 said in a recorded interview with the Philippine Information Agency 10 on July 18, 2023 in Cagayan de Oro City that diabetes affects all ages, regardless of economic status, although it is a preventible disease.
A fasting blood sugar level less than 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) is normal, 100 to 125 mg/dL is considered prediabetes, and 126 mg/dL or higher, on two separate tests, one has diabetes.
Fasting blood sugar (FBS) means one has not eaten and drunk water between eight to 12 hours, before the blood specimen was extracted for FBS laboratory test.
Labitad said diabetic patients whose pancreas could no longer produce enough supply of insulin (Type 1), or whose bodies are no longer responsive to insulin, have to undergo dialysis (Type 2). Blood sugar levels and other hormones in the body regulate insulin production.
He said that insulin’s main job is to move glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into the body’s cells to make energy, thus preventing a sugar build-up which may result to kidney failure, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, nerve damage, visual and hearing impairments, and infections, among others.
PERSONAL DISCIPLINE
Sadly, health advisories that could prevent diabetes and how it can be managed are not strictly observed, even by diabetic patients. These include proper nutrition, regular physical exercise, adequate sleep, non-smoking of cigarettes, cigar, or vape, and excessive drinking.
But Labitad debunked claims of self-confessed health-conscious individuals who have shifted to black or brown rice from white, or to muscovado (raw sugar)and coco-sugar in order to keep or reduce one’s blood sugar levels.
He said that it is not the kind of rice or sugar that one eats or uses, including other sweetened food and drinks, but the quantity of the commodity that one ingests into the body that would be harmful to one’s health. “Anything excessive must be avoided,”he added, regardless of the glycemic index of the items.
He also dismissed claims on social media that a cure for diabetes has already been discovered and that there are alternative medicines diabetic patients should use, instead of adhering to prescriptive medicines.
Labitad said these have “No Approved Therapeutic Claims” marking because if these are cures for diabetics, then diabetes should have already been among the top leading causes or mortality as well as in morbidity in the region and nationwide.
Metformin, the most common prescriptive medicine for diabetes (Type 2), works mainly by lowering glucose production in the liver and in improving the body’s sensitivity to insulin so could use it effectively. This, he said, must be taken as prescribed.
The key word, he said, is personal discipline.
SUGAR GALORE
Meanwhile, Labitad took note of an observation raised by a media practitioner present during the “Konsultayo” taping session that Filipinos have the propensity of eating rice with “pansit” or instant noodles, and of adding sugar to already sweet items.
Rice and noodles, being carbohydrates, are sugar molecules. The human body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose or blood sugar which serves as main source of energy for cells, tissues, and organs.
One common practice is the sprinkling of refined sugar on fried sliced ripe banana, shaped to look like a human palm and popularly known as “maruya.”
Another way of preparing ripe bananas and cubed “camote” (sweet potato) as ingredients are the so-called banana and camote cues. These are fried, coated with caramelized brown sugar, placed on bamboo stick skewers, and then sold in school canteens and by ambulant and street sidewalk vendors.
Labitad said he will bring these up in policy-making bodies behind the crafting of health education and promotion campaign materials, particularly as a diabetes prevention strategy.
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