tzvicto.2014
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- Sep 15, 2014
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The WHO reports that non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung disease, are collectively responsible for 74% of all deaths worldwide. In Tanzania DHIS-2 data indicates a 9.4% increase in heart disease and blood pressure cases from 2.5million cases in 2017 up to 3.4million in 2022.
Citing a speech by the minister of health commemorating the world heart day in sept 2023, non-communicable disease trend from 1980 to 2020 indicates an increase of blood pressure and diabetes diseases at 26% and 9% increment respectively. These are diseases that lead closely to heart diseases, kidney diseases and Stroke cases which affect the country’s workforce negatively.
If we are to compare with large nations such as USA, Tanzania profile on non-communicable diseases is not far from these nations with 8.9% of population with diabetes (National Diabetes Statistics Report) and 40% of the US adults being insulin resistant (National Institute of health), a condition just before a diabetes diagnosis on a general glucometer.
What can we do as a country as preventive measures to limit growth of non-communicable diseases?
Diet and Lifestyle remains key, but a strong re-look on current dietary guidelines remains crucial.
While dietary guidelines promote a health balanced diet with all 3 classes of foods (carbs, protein and fats), our current lifestyle has changed drastically from the past which questions these guidelines, a higher consumption of carbohydrates and Sugar in foods and a vast increase in processed foods with sugars remains a high risk in society attaining NCD’s sooner in their life compared to past experiences. Consumption of sugar has grown with most recent country demand at 807,000tons for 2023/2024 quoting the prime minister speaking in the parliament in April 2024. (68.4% out of this is for home consumption.)
I Believe this is against our very old norm lifestyle which involved eating 1 to 2 meals a day and you would have processed foods around festive season only. Today processed foods and drinks full of sugar are widely available at cheap prices consumption and not monitored, these are leading causes of NCD’s even a trend observed now administering young adults as sick patients with NCD’s.
Our dietary guidelines need to take into consideration current lifestyle and absorb new guidelines monitoring the impact of sugar consumption to prevent increase of NCD’s cases in the cases which impacts the workforce.
Education to the public about benefits of Fasting
Fasting which has been done by humans unconsciously in million of years ago where there were no processed foods or fridge and access to foods depended on hunting and gathering rarely exists in current lifestyle where food availability is close more than ever. I believe society needs to be educated on reducing the number of frequency meals and the benefits of fasting to help reversing lifestyle diseases which by far most common are leading to NCD’s.
Early Diagnosis
Insulin resistance also known as pre-diabetes is a pre-step before patients are diagnosed with diabetes, while other countries are ahead assessing people with insulin resistance as early precautionary measures to influence lifestyle and diet changes, Tanzania is Yet to make a step towards this. It is assumed that 40% of the US adults are deemed to be insulin resistant, similar data which I was not able to identify for Tanzania case.
The predominant consequence of insulin resistance is type 2 diabetes (T2D). Insulin resistance is thought to precede the development of T2D by 10 to 15 years. Lifestyle modifications should be the primary focus when treating insulin resistance. (Insulin Resistance - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf.)
It takes 10 to 15 years to develop diabetes, I believe our current testing practices should be modified and health practitioners trained on new ways to assess and catch diabetes at an earlier stage to prevent diabetes but also other NCD’s which are a result of pre-diabetes.
Tests such as insulin tests, HbA1c tests are more crucial in assessing insulin resistance compared to a fasting blood glucose test which can only diagnose diabetes at a very later stage.
Conclusion
I quote my conclusion from a research article which I agree the most with and strongly believe as a country we need to embark on this journey of early diagnosing insulin resistance to combat non communicable diseases, revisit our dietary guidelines limiting the excessive intake of carbohydrates and sugar, a turnaround change in health and people wellness can be achieved by doing this limitation.
“The burden of obesity in urban Tanzania has reached the boiling point. Parallel to this, reciprocal trajectories of Non-Communicable Diseases are also expected to intensify if measures to curb the obesity epidemic are not taken timely and aggressively. Community-based and multilevel public health strategies to promote and maintain healthy diet and physical activity including price reduction for healthy foods, increasing the price of unhealthy foods, incorporating nutrition health education and physical activity programs in schools and workplace, and initiation of social support interventions for physical activity (i.e. walking groups, jogging clubs, and exercise buddy system) require an urgent step-up in urban Tanzania.” (Obesity epidemic in urban Tanzania: a public health calamity in an already overwhelmed and fragmented health system - BMC Endocrine Disorders)
Citing a speech by the minister of health commemorating the world heart day in sept 2023, non-communicable disease trend from 1980 to 2020 indicates an increase of blood pressure and diabetes diseases at 26% and 9% increment respectively. These are diseases that lead closely to heart diseases, kidney diseases and Stroke cases which affect the country’s workforce negatively.
If we are to compare with large nations such as USA, Tanzania profile on non-communicable diseases is not far from these nations with 8.9% of population with diabetes (National Diabetes Statistics Report) and 40% of the US adults being insulin resistant (National Institute of health), a condition just before a diabetes diagnosis on a general glucometer.
What can we do as a country as preventive measures to limit growth of non-communicable diseases?
Diet and Lifestyle remains key, but a strong re-look on current dietary guidelines remains crucial.
While dietary guidelines promote a health balanced diet with all 3 classes of foods (carbs, protein and fats), our current lifestyle has changed drastically from the past which questions these guidelines, a higher consumption of carbohydrates and Sugar in foods and a vast increase in processed foods with sugars remains a high risk in society attaining NCD’s sooner in their life compared to past experiences. Consumption of sugar has grown with most recent country demand at 807,000tons for 2023/2024 quoting the prime minister speaking in the parliament in April 2024. (68.4% out of this is for home consumption.)
I Believe this is against our very old norm lifestyle which involved eating 1 to 2 meals a day and you would have processed foods around festive season only. Today processed foods and drinks full of sugar are widely available at cheap prices consumption and not monitored, these are leading causes of NCD’s even a trend observed now administering young adults as sick patients with NCD’s.
Our dietary guidelines need to take into consideration current lifestyle and absorb new guidelines monitoring the impact of sugar consumption to prevent increase of NCD’s cases in the cases which impacts the workforce.
Education to the public about benefits of Fasting
Fasting which has been done by humans unconsciously in million of years ago where there were no processed foods or fridge and access to foods depended on hunting and gathering rarely exists in current lifestyle where food availability is close more than ever. I believe society needs to be educated on reducing the number of frequency meals and the benefits of fasting to help reversing lifestyle diseases which by far most common are leading to NCD’s.
Early Diagnosis
Insulin resistance also known as pre-diabetes is a pre-step before patients are diagnosed with diabetes, while other countries are ahead assessing people with insulin resistance as early precautionary measures to influence lifestyle and diet changes, Tanzania is Yet to make a step towards this. It is assumed that 40% of the US adults are deemed to be insulin resistant, similar data which I was not able to identify for Tanzania case.
The predominant consequence of insulin resistance is type 2 diabetes (T2D). Insulin resistance is thought to precede the development of T2D by 10 to 15 years. Lifestyle modifications should be the primary focus when treating insulin resistance. (Insulin Resistance - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf.)
It takes 10 to 15 years to develop diabetes, I believe our current testing practices should be modified and health practitioners trained on new ways to assess and catch diabetes at an earlier stage to prevent diabetes but also other NCD’s which are a result of pre-diabetes.
Tests such as insulin tests, HbA1c tests are more crucial in assessing insulin resistance compared to a fasting blood glucose test which can only diagnose diabetes at a very later stage.
Conclusion
I quote my conclusion from a research article which I agree the most with and strongly believe as a country we need to embark on this journey of early diagnosing insulin resistance to combat non communicable diseases, revisit our dietary guidelines limiting the excessive intake of carbohydrates and sugar, a turnaround change in health and people wellness can be achieved by doing this limitation.
“The burden of obesity in urban Tanzania has reached the boiling point. Parallel to this, reciprocal trajectories of Non-Communicable Diseases are also expected to intensify if measures to curb the obesity epidemic are not taken timely and aggressively. Community-based and multilevel public health strategies to promote and maintain healthy diet and physical activity including price reduction for healthy foods, increasing the price of unhealthy foods, incorporating nutrition health education and physical activity programs in schools and workplace, and initiation of social support interventions for physical activity (i.e. walking groups, jogging clubs, and exercise buddy system) require an urgent step-up in urban Tanzania.” (Obesity epidemic in urban Tanzania: a public health calamity in an already overwhelmed and fragmented health system - BMC Endocrine Disorders)
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