ABU DHABI // If gestational diabetes - high levels of blood sugar that occur during pregnancy - can be prevented, the numbers of people who are struck with Type 2 diabetes later in life can be drastically brought down, says Lise Kingo, the executive vice president of the Danish diabetes pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
"Today we know that our adult health is formed during the first nine months in the womb, and during the first two years of our life," Ms Kingo said.
Women have to protect their own and their infant's health in order to prevent chronic diseases.
Dr Bashir Salih, the chief of service and gestational diabetes specialist at Corniche Hospital in the capital, said that 16 per cent of pregnant women at the hospital had some type of diabetes, normally gestational or Type 2. Worldwide, 10 per cent of pregnant women are expected to develop gestational diabetes.
"We think 16 per cent in the UAE is not reflecting the exact number, and it may be higher because we are not screening all women; we should screen women prior to pregnancy and then as early as possible in pregnancy, because gestational diabetes is much higher in this part of the world," Dr Salih said.
This is a reflection of the high overall prevalence of diabetes in the UAE; it affects one out of five people in the country, the second-highest rate worldwide after the Pacific island of Nauru.
Additionally, more than 13 million women in the Middle East and North Africa region - eight per cent of the region's total female population - are currently living with diabetes.
Dr Akiko Maeda, the manager for the health, nutrition and population sector human development department at the World Bank, said the high prevalence of the disease also related to obesity.
"Obesity, particularly among women, is very high in this region," she said. "We need a sense of urgency about diabetes, particularly when it strikes pregnant women, because that just means that both the woman and her child will get diabetes again later in life."
If a woman with gestational diabetes is not treated with insulin to combat the high sugar in her blood, the baby will be exposed to a high glucose diet, said Ms Kingo.
"The result? Big babies that are very fat, which is already dangerous for the woman giving birth to this baby, but which also increases the chance of the woman and child getting diabetes later in life by 50 per cent," she said.
Alternatively, if a pregnant woman is malnourished and gives birth to a baby with a low birth weight, the child is genetically coded to live with less nutrition.
"Its chances of contracting diabetes later in life are higher because all it requires is putting on a little bit of weight for risk factors to set in," Ms Kingo said.
"Maybe, if we can target pregnant women and raise awareness on maternal health, it is the answer to all our problems."
Dr Sameera al Tuwaijri, a policy adviser on reproductive health for the World Bank, said that despite the importance of gestational diabetes, there seemed to be no mechanism for data analysis and collection in the region.
"This is the most common medical disorder found in pregnancy, and yet we still have a problem diagnosing it, and we still have no system that ensures universal screening of women," she said.
"We could address all types of chronic diseases just by addressing the health of pregnant woman, before and during her pregnancy."
Professor Jean Claude Mbanya, the president of the International Diabetes Federation, said that if something were not done soon, healthy people might become a minority.
"The first 1,000 days of life, which include the nine months in the womb, are a blueprint for our health for the rest of our lives," he said. "It is obvious where our focus should be."
hkhalaf@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Muguruza's singles career in stats
WTA titles 3
Prize money US$11,128,219 (Dh40,873,133.82)
Wins / losses 293 / 149
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Company Profile
Founders: Tamara Hachem and Yazid Erman
Based: Dubai
Launched: September 2019
Sector: health technology
Stage: seed
Investors: Oman Technology Fund, angel investor and grants from Sharjah's Sheraa and Ma'an Abu Dhabi
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South