Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Objective: This paper will present the prevalence and distribution of Diabetes mellitus (DM), overweight and obesity and will discuss the usefulness of bio- and genetic markers in pre-symptomatic or early diagnosis of these disorders. Diabetes mellitus and obesity are among the most widely distributed genetic disorders that affect adult populations in several populations of the World. We conducted a nationwide screening of Saudi population with age ranging from 18-70 years in an attempt to determine the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in different age groups and to identify genetic and bio-markers that could predict the susceptibility to develop these disorders in Saudi population. Over 14,000 individuals were screened in five provinces of Saudi Arabia. Anthropometric data was obtained and blood samples were collected after an overnight fast. World Health Organization criteria were used to classify the individuals as Type 1 DM, Type 2 DM, overweight and obese. The male and female results were analyzed separately. The prevalence of these disorders was calculated for the different disorders and further stratification of the data was achieved based on the province to which the population belonged. The results showed that the overall prevalence of diabetes was higher in the males compared to the females, while the reverse was true for overweight and obesity. The different provinces differed significantly in the prevalence of these disorders and significant increase was observed in the prevalence with increasing age. Leptin, Lp(a), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and SA gene polymorphisms were studied as possible bio- and genetic markers.

Biography

Zeneb A Babay completed her MBBS from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, at the age of 24 years. She has also completed Arab Board in Obstetrics & Gynecology at King Saud University, Riyadh, after that she completed her Fellowship in perinatology at the University of Calgay, Canada in 1996. Currently, she is working as a Professor at King Saud University. She has published over 53 papers in national and international journals. She is also the member of different scientific committees. Her research interest involves in the study of molecular basis of genetic diseases and recurrent fetal loss.