MSD Jordan, a leading pharmaceutical company, has launched: a cookbook for diabetics, specifically designed to help diabetics maintain a healthy balanced diet and manage their weight.

The cookbook will be available to all Jordanian diabetics, targeting both places of work and schools. The book offers healthy recipes for traditional Jordanian and Arab cuisine, so citizens can enjoy the food they love, while mitigating the risks to their health.

“For people with Type 2 Diabetes, decreased food intake, increased exercise, along with certain diabetes medications, are well-known risk factors for hypoglycaemia,” said Dr Nadim Jarrah, head of Endocrinology and Metabolism at Specialty Hospital.

“If left untreated, it can lead to serious medical problems including loss of consciousness, convulsions and seizures, which require emergency treatment. Being able to record sugar levels throughout the day is extremely important and will allow physicians to better support diabetics in the management of their disease to ensure they don’t put themselves at risk of hypoglycemia or other diabetic complications.”

Dr Jarrah added: “Obesity, coupled with increased sedentary lifestyles and lower levels of physical activity are known to be the major reasons for the development and exacerbation of Type 2 Diabetes.

“With the cookbook, Jordanian diabetics will have a better opportunity to maintain a healthy and balanced diet, allowing them to better manage their weight and reduce the possibility of diabetes-related complications which obese diabetics are at increased risk of developing.”

MSD also launched its diabetes awareness campaign, aimed at tackling the health challenges that people with Type 2 Diabetes may face while fasting during Ramadan.

Despite the serious health risks that fasting could pose to diabetics, research shows that more than 50 million people with diabetes continue to fast during Ramadan against the advice of healthcare professionals.

As part of their initiative to understand the best ways to support diabetics who choose to fast, MSD undertook a study assessing 1,066 patients in 43 clinical centres across the Middle East.

Recognizing the critical role that healthcare professionals play in providing advice to diabetics who fast, in 2011 MSD launched a campaign to promote greater awareness about diabetics who choose to fast including the development of a new information kit for healthcare professionals to share and discuss with their patients.

In Jordan, this information is expected to support the diabetic population who already suffer from diabetes and wish to fast.

The study, which was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice last year, showed that patients with Type 2 Diabetes who chose to fast during Ramadan and were taking Januvia (sitagliptin) experienced less hypoglycaemia than patients taking a sulphonylurea (SU).

In addition, the relative risk of symptomatic hypoglycaemia was significantly lower in patients treated with sitagliptin versus patients treated with SUs.

“The results of this study are extremely important. Hypoglycaemia is a condition that can greatly impact the lives of people with Type 2 Diabetes and a common problem faced by diabetics who fast,” said Mohammad Abbadi, managing director, MSD Jordan.

“Diabetes can result in serious complications and even death when not properly managed. According to the latest IDF results, more than 2,118 Jordanians die each year as a result of diabetes and its complications.” – TradeArabia News Service