MULTAN, May 21: An alarming increase in the number of diabetics worldwide has prompted health experts to educate the public about precautionary measures.

A seminar and lecture on causes and treatments for diabetes here on Wednesday revealed that Pakistan was among top five countries in terms of the ratio of diabetic patients.

Speaking to the participants in the seminar, Prof Dr Riaz Malik from the Royal College (Manchester) said diabetes was becoming an epidemic and that urgent steps were required to control this deadly disease. He said diabetes was a syndrome of disorders characterised by high blood sugar levels. He said eating less-refined carbohydrates and a healthy lifestyle were effective preventive measures. He said diabetes was mother of all diseases and it was a commonest cause of blindness, renal failure, cardiac diseases. “Diabetes is also a pre-cancer condition.” However, he said diabetes was preventable and curable.