Metabolic disorders surge in Pakistan's youth

Experts across Pakistan are witnessing an earlier rise in metabolic health disorders as clinics are increasingly seeing younger adults with conditions once known to occur in middle age. "There is a clear shift," said Aga Khan University Hospital Endocrinologist Dr Najam ul Islam. "We are seeing younger patients present conditions that were once more common in middle age." Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and abnormal cholesterol are now appearing earlier in life and more often than not, they occur simultaneously. Most people view heart disease, diabetes and obesity as separate problems. Clinically, that distinction rarely holds. "High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and lipid abnormalities rarely exist in isolation," Dr Najam explains. "They share common underlying mechanisms, particularly involving insulin resistance and hormonal imbalance."