15 Aug 2016

The public has been urged to embrace a healthy lifestyle by exercising and eating balanced diets as they celebrate the country’s 50 years of independence.
During a wellness activity that had attracted public servants in Maun and the surrounding villages, Dr Sandra Maripe from Letsholathebe Memorial hospital said a healthy lifestyle required commitment from an individual and the entire community.
She said most illnesses were a result of inability to live healthy and urged all to at least exercise for thirty minutes daily and to eat properly.
Furthermore, she noted a high number of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, cancer and sugar diabetes which were a result of changes in lifestyle for many Batswana.
She also highlighted lack of physical activities, poor unbalanced diet,failure to eat fruits and vegetables, alcohol consumption and smoking as among the major causes of non-communicable diseases.
Focusing on Ngamiland district, she said in a month they attend to 300 patients suffering from high blood pressure and 150 from sugar diabetes.
“Every week, we record two new cases of patients suffering from sugar diabetes,” she said.
She said it has been reported that over-weight was one of the factors, which led to the rise of high cancer rates.
Dr Maripe cautioned that high blood pressure was a silent killer as one could not see the symptoms until he/she visits the health facility to conduct some tests. “Failure to adhere to treatment could result in heart failure, stroke, kidneys not functioning and blurred vision,” she said.
She also sensitised those who attended the event to be privy of symptoms of sugar diabetes such as drinking water regularly, eating too much, frequent urination, weight loss, fatigue just to mention a few. ENDS