DOHA: The National Diabetes Centres at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) are offering a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care, providing patients with improved access to specialised diabetes care and offering a range of diabetes related services.
The centres, including the newly opened National Diabetes Centre at Al Wakra Hospital, provide patients with a variety of services, including general consultation, foot care, diabetic education, nutritional counseling, screening for diabetic retinopathy, clinical investigation, insulin pump therapy and ophthalmology services.
Manal Musallam Othman, Senior Diabetes Educator at the centre located in Hamad General Hospital (HGH) says that healthy living is a crucial part of diabetes management.
“Learning how to make the right lifestyle choices is central to our diabetes care plan. We provide our patients with advice and tips for incorporating physical activity and altering food recipes. We help them lead a healthy lifestyle, keeping their diabetes under control and its complications at bay,” says Othman.
Hanem Al Bukhari, a 47 year old patient at HGH’s National Diabetes Centre, says she has witnessed great improvement since the centre opened last year. Al Bukhary was first diagnosed with gestational diabetes during her second pregnancy at the age of 28.
She also experienced gestational diabetes during her third and fourth pregnancies. Five years after her last pregnancy, Al Bukhari was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Approximately 10 percent in Qatar are diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a temporary form of diabetes that occurs only during pregnancy. While the condition normally disappears after the pregnancy ends, it increases a woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes; underscoring the requirement for regular screenings.
“After I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it was very difficult for me to manage my blood sugar levels. I took medications, but my blood sugar levels still remained very high and I was constantly tired, especially when I woke in the morning,” recalls Al Bukhari.
Al Bukhary says her treatment at HMC has underscored the necessity of healthy eating and physical activity in the management of her condition. The National Diabetes Centre offers education and nutritional consultation for its patients as part of its focus on integrating education and clinical care to ensure a comprehensive approach to diabetes management.
With recent statistics suggesting that over seventy percent of the population is overweight, raising community awareness of healthy lifestyle practices is a vital strategy for reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes in Qatar. More details on information sessions, diabetes education and dietary counseling by HMC healthcare professionals are available at http://diabetes.hamad.qa/en/world_diabetes_day.aspx
The Peninsula
