Chronic Diseases Kill 75 Percent Of Thais

[futureexpat10]

Thanks for your reply Sawadeeken. Makes perfect sense. Is it safer to send by courier rather than standard mail?

Also I agree with the general thread about finding and eating healthy food. Not always easy.

[Thai at Heart]

Maintaining a domestic sugar price below the international market has be one of the most idiotic policies ever invented, as though refined sugar provides one lick of social benefit.

Would anyone genuinely complain if the processed food, instant coffee mix, soft drinks makers and cake and biscuit manufacturers reduced their sugar content to keep their prices stable? There are obviously some products in Thailand that have a disproportionately high amount of sugar for no other reason than sugar is domestically cheaper than it should be. I can't for the life of me think of one social benefit?

[crocken]

sugars in many cooked foods in thailand and a lot of over weight thias....= Diabetes.

[SunsetT]

try looking up "supersize me" or "sugar, sweet poison"

As with most governments it appears they are motivated to act when its costing them money or want to make more money, its probably a money grabbing exercise, i have seen it many times before, grog and cigarettes going thru the roof, maybe they should impose higher taxes on fast food chains, excuses excuses excuses, bullshit bullshit bullshit

Excuse me but the percent of Thai's that eat at fast food chains is very small.

The percent of Thais who have never heard of them is huge.

..Hello hellodolly.....Please see my previous post ref. sugar...nothing to do with fast food chains.

[spidermike007]

"He said these diseases cause immense losses - 41 million people will die from them in the next three years."

He's saying that 60% of the population of Thailand will die in the next 3 years? Where do these clowns come from?

Well as you can see, the kingdom is famous for great mathematicians. Some of the addition I see here is incredible. Have you ever seen a Thai figure out your bill without the use of a calculator? Uncommon. Math is such a wonderful tool, and something that dramatically improves lives, if taught properly. Even basic math makes life so much easier. It is taught here? Yes. But is the quality of the math education good? Answer that one yourselves.

[simple1]

"He said these diseases cause immense losses - 41 million people will die from them in the next three years."

He's saying that 60% of the population of Thailand will die in the next 3 years? Where do these clowns come from?

Well as you can see, the kingdom is famous for great mathematicians. Some of the addition I see here is incredible. Have you ever seen a Thai figure out your bill without the use of a calculator? Uncommon. Math is such a wonderful tool, and something that dramatically improves lives, if taught properly. Even basic math makes life so much easier. It is taught here? Yes. But is the quality of the math education good? Answer that one yourselves.

The newspaper article refers to forecast deaths across the ten ASEAN countries, not just Thailand

[PoodMaiDai]

The biggest killer in Thailand is Liver Fluke infection, for both males and females; where the liver is infected by OV infestation.

This in turn leads to cholangiocarcinoma, which unfortunately my Mother-in-Law died of early last year, and at a young age.

Fluke infestation comes from eating undercooked or raw fish, a common place staple diet in the North, and is well know worldwide in the medical fraternity as being pertinent to Thailand. My M-i-L lived in Ubon.

So just a warning, for all of my colleagues here. Don't even consider eating raw or undercooked fish, ever; not that you would anyway....

One badly infected piece of fish can infect your liver, and slowly and surely kill it off over a few years, and even shorter if no treatment is given, or is given too late.

In essence, the Govnt advisors should be starting with cooked fish advice, before they even venture into anti-smoking and other warnings.

-mel.

Is there a test for this illness?

I am aware of the problem but not if there is testing or not to see if you have it.

[folium]

The biggest killer in Thailand is Liver Fluke infection, for both males and females; where the liver is infected by OV infestation.

This in turn leads to cholangiocarcinoma, which unfortunately my Mother-in-Law died of early last year, and at a young age.

Fluke infestation comes from eating undercooked or raw fish, a common place staple diet in the North, and is well know worldwide in the medical fraternity as being pertinent to Thailand. My M-i-L lived in Ubon.

So just a warning, for all of my colleagues here. Don't even consider eating raw or undercooked fish, ever; not that you would anyway....

One badly infected piece of fish can infect your liver, and slowly and surely kill it off over a few years, and even shorter if no treatment is given, or is given too late.

In essence, the Govnt advisors should be starting with cooked fish advice, before they even venture into anti-smoking and other warnings.

-mel.

Is there a test for this illness?

I am aware of the problem but not if there is testing or not to see if you have it.

Interesting article on this subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/world/asia/26iht-thailand.html

[Yodrak]

If it weren't for the specific mention of living in Thailand and the mention of children riding motorbikes, I would have thought this was written about the USA.

"implement measures to curb noncommunicable chronic diseases - such as coronary vascular disease, cancer and diabetes."

In the six years since I have been living in Thailand, I can see why some of these diseases are on the increase. Where in the past it was almost impossible to see someone overweight, I now see morbidly obese children riding motorbikes (obviously too young to be riding a motor vehicle) to 7-11 and exiting with super size sugary drinks, bags of candy and chemical laden products.. Their future is no great puzzle. They will grow into obese adults and be prime candidates for type 2 diabetes and vasular diseases. The high cancer rates can be attributed to a number of habits and conditions in the Thai (and other) cultures...air and water pollution, high intake of high fat products, use of alcohol and tobacco and lack of effective exercise. This problem is not restricted to the larger metropolitan areas. I have seen this trend in rural areas where people now have increased financial means to buy highly processed foodlike products and motorbikes. Thus the double whammy...high intake of calories, low physical activity to burn those increased calories.

...

The education which needs to take place has to start in the home with the family. As long as adults have a warped concept of what is healthy, their children will just perpetuate those views and standards into their unhealthy lifestyles.