Title:Diabetes Mellitus in Saudi Arabia: A Review of the Recent Literature
VOLUME: 12 ISSUE: 4
Author(s):Mohamed Abdulaziz Al Dawish, Asirvatham Alwin Robert, Rim Braham, Ayman Abdallah Al Hayek, Abdulghani Al Saeed, Rania Ahmed Ahmed and Fahad Sulaiman Al Sabaan
Affiliation:Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Diabetes Treatment Center, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, P.O. Box 7897, Riyadh 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Keywords:Diabetes mellitus, diabetes complication, hyperglycemia, high blood sugar, obesity, saudi arabia.Diabetes mellitus, diabetes complication, hyperglycemia, high blood sugar, obesity, saudi arabia.
Abstract:The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that Saudi Arabia ranks the second
highest in the Middle East, and is seventh in the world for the rate of diabetes. It is estimated that
around 7 million of the population are diabetic and almost around 3 million have pre-diabetes. Even
more worrying perhaps, is the increasing pattern of diabetes noted in Saudi Arabia in the recent past.
In fact, diabetes has approximately registered a ten-fold increase in the past three eras in Saudi Arabia.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been found to be related to high mortality, morbidity and vascular
complications, accompanied by poor general health and lower quality of life. In Saudi Arabia, DM is
quickly reaching disturbing proportions and becoming a significant cause of medical complications
and even death. However, when compared with the developed countries, the research work conducted,
focusing particularly on the incidence, prevalence and socio-demographic properties of DM
is woefully inadequate. The health burden due to DM in Saudi Arabia is predicted to rise to catastrophic
levels, unless a wide-ranging epidemic control program is incorporated, with great emphasis
laid on advocating a healthy diet, including exercise and active lifestyles, and weight control. To
properly manage the DM in Saudi Arabia, a multidisciplinary approach is required. In this review we
discuss all the aspects of DM in Saudi Arabia drawing from the published literature currently available.
