BY TASNEEM AL-GHAMDI (COMD/IV)
On November 18, Bilkent International House (BIH) hosted a seminar on diabetes to mark World Diabetes Day, which had taken place earlier that week, on November 14.
To conduct the seminar, BIH invited a guest speaker, Dr. Can Konca of the Department of Surgery at the Ankara University School of Medicine. He visited Bilkent to inform students about diabetes, talk about some common misconceptions concerning the disease and answer students’ questions.
The meeting started with a welcoming speech by the club’s president and then a short introduction to the seminar by a BIH member, which highlighted the importance of raising awareness of diabetes. This was followed by Dr. Konca’s presentation.
He began by giving background information about the disease, its history and its symptoms. He also discussed how healthy habits and simple steps such as controlling one’s weight, giving up smoking and working out can help prevent diabetes.
Additionally, Dr. Konca explained the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and also helped clear up some common misconceptions. For instance, the disease is usually associated with sugar intake, but is in fact sometimes genetic in origin.
He ended his presentation by reminding everyone that treatment of type 2 diabetes is possible when you are aware of the disease. Dr. Konca and his sister, Dr. Ceyla Konca Değertekin of the Ufuk University Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, welcomed students’ questions after the presentation.
For more information, check out the website of the International Diabetes Federation: http://www.idf.org/wdd-index/.