The director of the Egyptian Diabetes Institute, Sameh Abdel Shakour, has announced that six million Egyptians suffer from diabetes. This figure represents between 8-10 percent of the population, which is the highest percantage in the world.
“Studies revealed that two hereditary factors affect the spread of the disease in Egypt. Age plays a big role as the disease prevalence was found to be less among those under 30 years of age,” said Abdel Shakour in a statement to Jordan’s Petra news agency, adding that the rate among those under 20 starts from 0.5 percent up to 12 percent.
The second factor, he says, is related to the Egyptians lifestyle, as the rate of the disease prevalence in the cities among people exceeding 60 years of age reached 20 percent compared to 10 percent among the same group in the countryside.
The institute’s director concluded that obesity and sedentary life predisposed the people with hereditary factors to diabetes - Albawaba.com
