Diabetes to exact Huge Costs on Poor Countries Diabetes and its complications such as strokes and heart disease

e will place an enormous financial burden on poorer countries in years to come, researchers warned in a report. Diabetes is moving from being a disease of developed countries to a disease in developing countries like India and China, and this could put pressure on healthcare systems through rising health-care costs, said Philip Clarke, associate professor at University of Sydneys School of Public Health. Clarke and his colleagues examined records of 11,140 patients with severe diabetes in 20 countries, including the complications they suffered, money spent and length of hospital stays; and they found diabetes hit healthcare costs more severely in poorer countries. We know there are efficient ways of reducing theses rates of complications. If you can stop people having strokes through blood pressure control, you can clearly reduce these patients healthcare costs, said Clarke.

Diabetes: A very Alarming Threat According to DOH as of 2001, it was estimated that four million Filipinos have diabetes. This is roughly 4 % of the 80 million population of the country. Of the 4 million diabetics, 65% are not aware that they have diabetes. 10 to 20 years ago, the onset of diabetes happened only in the fourth or fifth decade of life, but now, early onset is becoming common. In fact according to statistics, diabetes is rampantly prevalent today than it was 10 to 20 years ago. CAUSE OF DEATH In the United States, diabetes is the third leading cause of death, the principal cause of blindness among adults, and the most common cause of kidney failure.

It is a fact that diabetes cannot be cured. The least a diabetic can do is control the blood sugar level since a sustained dramatic rise increases the risk of suffering from dangerous complications.

HERBAL MEDICINE The extensive study on banaba for diabetes control began as eraly as the 1940s at the Philippine General Hospital by Dr. Faustino Garcia. He called the active ingredient plantisul short for plant insulin. Just recently in Japan, further studies confirmed that Philippine banaba does have an active component called corosolic acid that may help diabetics. The extract of banaba is now available in the Philippines. Better Herbs Banaba-Ampalaya herbal food supplement is 75% corosolic acid (from banaba) and 25 % charantin (from ampalaya).