Ilias I, Tselebis A. Do not forget diet and exercise during Ramadan. World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(31): 7738-7740 [PMID: 38078134 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i31.7738]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ioannis Ilias, MD, PhD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, “Elena Venizelou” Hospital, No. 2 Elena Venizelou Square, Athens GR-11521, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Nov 6, 2023; 11(31): 7738-7740 Published online Nov 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i31.7738
Do not forget diet and exercise during Ramadan
Ioannis Ilias, Athanasios Tselebis
Ioannis Ilias, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, “Elena Venizelou” Hospital, Athens GR-11521, Greece
Athanasios Tselebis, Department of Psychiatry, “Sotiria” General Chest Diseases Hospital, Athens GR-11527, Greece
Author contributions: Ilias I and Tselebis Adesigned this research work; Ilias I and Tselebis A performed the research; Ilias I and Tselebis A analyzed the data; Ilias I and Tselebis A wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ioannis Ilias, MD, PhD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, “Elena Venizelou” Hospital, No. 2 Elena Venizelou Square, Athens GR-11521, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com
Received: September 13, 2023 Peer-review started: September 13, 2023 First decision: September 19, 2023 Revised: September 19, 2023 Accepted: October 17, 2023 Article in press: October 17, 2023 Published online: November 6, 2023 Processing time: 53 Days and 23.3 Hours
Abstract
We conducted an analysis of internet search trends spanning from January 2022 to June 2023 in the ten most populous Muslim countries. Our study focused on key terms, including the prominent GLP1 analog "ozempic™", as well as "diet", "exercise", and "diabetes". The findings revealed a substantial increase in searches for the GLP1 analog in eight countries. Concurrently, searches for "diet" and "exercise" predominantly exhibited a decline in nine and four countries, respectively. Notably, searches for "diabetes" displayed positive trends in only two countries. These patterns indicate a growing reliance on pharmaceutical interventions for managing diabetes and weight, often to the detriment of diet and exercise. Healthcare professionals and clinicians in Muslim countries should emphasize the importance of maintaining dietary and exercise regimens for patients with diabetes, even during the observance of Ramadan.
Core Tip: An analysis of internet searches in ten populous Muslim countries revealed a notable rise in searches for a popular GLP1 analog. Meanwhile, searches for "diet" and "exercise" were mostly declining. This trend implies a growing preference for pharmaceutical solutions over diet and exercise in the management of diabetes or obesity, suggesting the need for healthcare professionals in Muslim countries to emphasize the importance of diet and exercise, including during Ramadan.
