KARACHI, Oct 11: Despite significant proportion of its population living below poverty line, Pakistan is yet regarded a country where food indulgence is a favourite past time, often manifested through a surge in ailments as gastro-oesophageal reflex disease (GERD), hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

Speakers at a discussion on Prevention of Some Common Diseases in Pakistan, organized under Continuing Medical Education Programme at Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) here on Saturday, were unanimous in their opinion that moderation in diet and modified lifestyle could prevent GERD, hypertension and obesity considerably besides controlling diabetes mellitus.

It was further highlighted that all the above-mentioned diseases had expensive treatment options along with compromised quality of life for the sufferers leaving masses with balanced approach towards life as the only viable choice.

Dr Khurram Shahid, Consultant Endocrinology, LNH, asserting that obesity itself is a disease, pointed out that it further leads to more serious ailments right from depression to hypertension, stroke, sleep-apnoea, myocardial infarction, osteo-arthritis, diabetes type two, and many more.

There can be ‘biological factors’, such as genetic influence, drug reaction and specific diseases contributing to weight augmentation among people, but ‘social factors’ like diet, physical inactivity and lifestyle hold more relevance to the scenario in Pakistan.

He also referred to the fact that each individual attaining the age of 40 is prone to gain one to two kgs of weight per decade. This requires due caution on the part of aging people to adopt an integrated approach comprising diet control and physical activity followed by pharmalogical intervention.

The last of the intervention is undertaken only as per the recommendation of a qualified medical professional and that, too, after necessary examination of a patient.

Tracing back to the use of drugs as mode to treat obesity, he said these largely proved to hold a temporary impact. However, he added, a drug currently in use in different parts of the world after having been introduced some five years back, was considered to be generally beneficial.

Dr Samina Ghaznavi, discussing management of GERD, said it was a chronic relapsing condition often caused due to excessive intake of food with high fat, cocoa and nicotine.—APP