Havana, Cuba.- The 1st International Diabetes Congress opens in Havana on Wednesday with about 400 specialists from Latin America, Europe, Asia and the United States, who will insist on the need to prevent this disease, considered the 7th leading cause of death by 2030.

The event, underway at the Conference Center in Havana until May 24, coincides in time with the 10th Cuban Diabetes Congress, the major of the Cuban Endocrinology Society this 2019.

The congress begins with a presentation on the accumulated experience and milestones in caring diabetics in Cuba, by Ileydis Iglesias, director of the National Institute of Endocrinology.

Debates as chronic condition and its relationship with obesity and lipid disorders are among the issues under discussion by experts from about 20 countries, including Mexico, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Spain, Sweden and Israel.

Emerging issues such as the quality of diet and nutritional status in children and adolescents; the relationship between adiposity, diabetes and aging; in addition to the importance of exercise for obese diabetic patients are part of the scientific program today.

Imaging techniques to detect silent ischemia in patients with this health problem, as well as diabetic kidney disease, are also on the list.

Factors such as sedentary lifestyle, obesity, family history, high blood pressure and lipid disorders are considered risk for diabetes. More than 422 million people worldwide are currently suffering from this disease.