Health professionals have revealed that consumption of biryani and carbonated drinks are main causes of diabetes in Pakistan.

Experts suggested that intake of biryani and consumption of carbonated sodas should be stopped in order to lower down diabetes.

At the launching ceremony of the Diabetes Discovering Project, the Internal Medicine Specialist and Endocrinologist Professor Tasnim Ahsan said that “the country is facing a diabetes epidemic and everything unhealthy we eat [nowadays] should be avoided, especially rice in the form of biryani, soft drinks and so-called fast food.”

He further stated, “More than 50 per cent of the people with diabetes are unaware of their health condition and only find out when their eyes, kidneys, heart or brain have been severely damaged,” the Professor said, adding that “precaution is better than cure.”

According to diabetes expert Professor Zaman Sheikh, while talking about the disease said: “The disease is threatening thousands of lives in Pakistan every year but unfortunately most people are ignorant of the causes of the disease and consider it a small problem.”

“When people come to us with diabetes after living for many years, many of their vital organs have already suffered badly,” he said, asserting that “diabetes causes permanent damage to the eyes and kidneys and can even lead to heart attacks and fatal strokes.”