Filipino knowledge about diabetes was revealed in the latest diabetes awareness study conducted by Sun Life Financial Asia.
For instance, 24 percent think there is only one form of diabetes, while 37 percent believe the disease is curable. Moreover, 7 percent think diabetes can be caught from others, and that those with diabetes should not be allowed to have children.
On average, Filipinos estimate that 52 percent of the adult population has diabetes and that those with diabetes will live 33 less years than those without.
Interestingly, even diabetic Filipinos themselves are ill informed, where 53 percent think the illness is curable, while 21 percent also believe that it can be caught from others. Sixty-one of these respondents discovered diabetes in regular checkup, while 29 percent learned about it after a hospital visit for health complications.
Many are also unaware that gestational diabetes, which may develop during a woman’s pregnancy, can affect baby’s health, where the baby may have trouble breathing, experience low blood sugar, or develop a large head. Twenty-six percent even think children can outgrow diabetes and 19 percent that pregnant women have lower risks of contracting the disease.
In order to get a clearer view of how pregnant women understand gestational diabetes, Sun Life also surveyed a sample of pregnant women, and found that 12 percent of recently pregnant women are diabetic.