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The American Studies Centre hosted American Fulbright scholar Dr Richard Cenedella who gave a talk and revealed that he would like to work with local physicians to examine why the Arabian Gulf has one of the highest rates of Type-2 diabetes in the world.
As a visiting Fulbright scholar, Dr Cenedella is currently teaching in the Department of Biology in the College of Science at the University of Bahrain.
He told students and staff present about his work as a professor and a researcher at AT Stills University in Kirksville, Missouri, which includes research on malaria, cancer, brain lipids and epilepsy, the ocular lens of the eye and drugs which affect lipids, etc.
He added that his recent work involves nutrition and its impact on the human body.
Dr Cenedella started his talk by explaining the two types of diabetes, Type-1, which is usually genetically inherited and means the body is incapable of producing the insulin it needs, and Type-2 in which the human body becomes insulin resistant and is incapable of producing sufficient insulin to process nutrients.
Dr Cenedella added that during his research, he found the Arabian Gulf region has one the highest numbers of metabolic syndrome and Type-2 diabetes cases in the world. He expressed his interest in conducting research with local Bahraini physicians to measure how widespread this condition is in Bahrain, though he lamented that his stay in Bahrain will only be for six months.
The talk concluded with Dr Cenedella offering solutions to reduce the possibility of having metabolic syndrome by eating healthily, exercising daily and monitoring one's own weight. Furthermore, he offered some incentives and disincentives that can be adopted by authorities to tackle the problem of obesity and metabolic syndrome, thus preventing the contraction of Type-2 diabetes.
Discussion after the talk explored the various implications of this medical condition, such as the cost of healthcare, fast food consumption, dietary practices in Bahrain and the role of education in preventing a proliferation of metabolic syndrome.
