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Tackling the linked issues of obesity and diabetes requires changes in policy, economics and social attitudes. Photo: File

Weighty issue: Why health is the most valuable investment SA can make

Tackling the linked issues of obesity and diabetes requires changes in policy, economics and social attitudes

Thanks to Ozempic and similar medications, losing weight has become easier for some — although it is expensive and has side effects such as nausea, stomach pain, vomiting and constipation. (Flickr)

Women’s body image is shaped by abusing diabetic drugs such as Ozempic

Ideals of what beauty is, exacerbated by social media and artificial intelligence, has the potential to harm women’s health – young women in particular

South Africa must treat the conditions that breed diabetes, including by making healthy food affordable. Photo: File

Diabetes is a disease that thrives on inequity

South Africa must treat the conditions that breed diabetes, including by making healthy food affordable

Doctors will need to pay attention not only to a patient’s physical health but also the person’s emotional, social and psychospiritual aspects.

National Health Insurance system will mean little if we don’t offer the right kind of care

Although the NHI offers much-needed reform, it must find a new way to care for patients – an approach that treats people emotionally, physically, socially, psychologically and…

File photo

Why SA needs to get a grip on diabetes – fast

About 60 000 South Africans die in a year from diseases that are not caused by tuberculosis or HIV before they turn 70, and about a fifth of these are from diabetes

South Africa must treat the conditions that breed diabetes, including by making healthy food affordable. Photo: File

Diabetes in South Africa: the need for evidence-based science and decisive leadership

Diabetes has become one of South Africa’s most pressing public health issues. We desperately need evidence-based science and decisive leadership to address this mounting crisis

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Time to take diabetes seriously in South Africa

We need a health system that not only provides medication but also encourages a healthy lifestyle. Group empowerment, digital solutions, and telehealth could help with this

Among NCDs is diabetes, which is likely to afflict 8.75 million people by 2040 and requires urgent government intervention

Diabetes the top non-communicable disease killer in South Africa

Among NCDs is diabetes, which is likely to afflict 8.75 million people by 2040 and requires urgent government intervention

So many on the African continent are affected by TB, which hits the young and vibrant the hardest in our region and in the world. (Photo by NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Africans can solve TB, the disease that haunts us. Here’s how

Africans need to be fully involved in drug discovery and development research for tuberculosis on the continent

Interventions such as immediate food relief and raising awareness are needed to address both undernutrition and obesity

A shift to whole grain food would reduce malnutrition and diseases

Refining wheat, maize and rice removes their nutritional value, which contributes to preventable diseases such as strokes, diabetes and obesity

Free RBS checking campaign on the occasion of observing World Diabetes Day at the Sylhet Diabetic Hospital premises. Sylhet, Bangladesh. Photo: Getty Images

Education is key in management of diabetes pandemic

Diabetes has been described as one of the fastest growing global health emergencies of the 21st century.

Obesity is a major cause of diabetes.
Photo: Getty Images

Take the guesswork out of meal planning to prevent diabetes

Type two diabetes, which is more common than type one, with 95% of people with diabetes having type two, is mainly lifestyle-related

Temptation: The chocolate flowed on the perfect cake but the size-zero women resisted. Obesity is said to account for 80% to 85% of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Photo: GMVozd

The cruelty of chocolate cake denied

Indulging in delicious, sugary food is a delight but the consequences are being tired, breathless, lethargic and bloated — especially for a diabetic

Monster problem: Companies producing sugary drinks have decreased the sugar content as a result of a sugar tax. But the same cannot be said about energy drinks. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Energy drinks flourish amid health fears

The market in South Africa had an annual growth rate of 26.89% from 2013 to 2018

Of the 60.14 million people living in South Africa, only 432 000 of them —
less than 1% — are blood donors. (Photo By Marta Fernandez Jara/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Blood transfusion is lifesaving. So is donating blood

The availability of blood is crucial for the treatment of acute and chronic diseases and in emergencies such as during child birth

To the rescue: In Barcelona, a man wearing face mask walks by a work by Italian street artist TvBoy named The Three Vaccines, depicting the graces dressed in AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer labels, which consciously references Raphael’s classic painting The Three Graces. (Josep Lago/AFP)

Vaccine hesitant? An expert answers questions people have

Safety, side-effects and the jargon-filled scientific information explained for those who have concerns about getting vaccinated

A new international study has shown that obesity or an increased body mass index (BMI) is not associated with increased mortality in Covid-19 patients. (Photo by Varuth Pongsapipatt/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Study finds obesity is not associated with Covid-19 deaths

But an increased BMI remains a continuous risk-factor in Covid-19 patients being admitted to ICU

Natural gifts: Buchu or Agathosma
betulina has been popular in
teas and perfumes internationally
ever since it was introduced to Cape settlers. (Photo by David Cheskin – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

Study on rats finds buchu can help with obesity, diabetes and other ailments

Stellenbosch researcher believes clinical trials on humans will show promising results

Greed has cost nearly 8 000 workers in Tongaat’s sugar division and its milling operations their jobs when the company moved to sell off assets and reduce its debt, while the firm and its suppliers sustained huge losses.
 (Dean Hutton/Bloomberg/Getty)

Sweeter local sales rescue sugar

The master plan to rescue the industry means that at least 80% of sugar consumption will come from South African farms and millers

For well over a generation the management of diabetes focused primarily on bringing blood sugar levels within the normal range to prevent a huge list of complications such as blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes and amputations.

Diabetes is not just about the sugar

Newer drugs, which prevent costly complications, should be made much more affordable