Department of Medicine

Section of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism

As a medical subspecialty, Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism (DEM) encompass a wide array of medical disorders including diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes, lipid disorders, obesity, hypertension, and pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreatic, gonadal and reproductive diseases. Many of these diseases, particularly diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia, are widely prevalent in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Diabetes Survey, published in 1995 in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), noted a prevalence of diabetes among 16 per cent of adults with a further 9 per cent of adults with impaired glucose tolerance. The section organises and conducts regular patient education modules for people with diabetes. These are conducted weekly over the course of a month, to impart basic skills for better understanding and self-management of their disease.

Specialised lipid, obesity, and general endocrinology clinics will also be initiated over the next one to two years. The nutrition clinic is designed to provide nutrition care counselling and non-pharmacologic interventions to patients for management and/or prevention of chronic diseases. The approach is a holistic one involving not only the patient but also other significant people in his/her life. The attempt is to guide the patient towards an optimum nutritional status and a healthier lifestyle that will benefit not only the patient but also his/her family.

Clinical research interests of the section of DEM focus on effects of diabetes mellitus on local populations and methods of improving delivery of diabetes care. Other areas of interest include disorders of lipids, hypertension and obesity. Currently, the section is participating in many multidisciplinary research projects. The section is looking to expand its collaboration with the Department of Community Health Sciences in community-based interventional and health outcome studies and is also collaborating with the Department of Biological and Biomedical sciences for other research projects.

Section of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Aga Khan University