Steps For Avoiding Diabetes

<< Diabetes Awareness Necklace

MANILA, Nov. 12 – Proper diet, regular exercise, avoiding smoking and maintaining one’s blood pressure are the simple measures to control blood sugar and averting diabetes, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

The DOH defines diabetes as a serious chronic metabolic disease characterized by an increase in blood sugar levels associated with long term damage and failure of organ functions especially the eyes, the kidneys, the nerves, the heart and blood vessels.

The disease occurs when insulin is not adequately produced by the pancreas. It also happens when the body cannot properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone necessary for the proper utilization of sugar by muscles, fat and liver.

In diet therapy, the DOH said complex carbohydrates like rice, pasta, cereals and fresh fruits should be preferred instead of simple sugars like cakes and chocolates. Cutting down on salt and avoiding alcohol are also advised. Skipping or delaying meals should also be avoided as it causes fluctuations in blood sugar levels.Regular exercise is an important part of diabetes control because the habit improves cardiovascular fitness, helps insulin to work better and lowers blood sugar.

The DOH advises everyone to exercise at least three times a week or at least 30 minutes each session. Maintaining a normal blood pressure prevents hypertension which puts a person at high risk of cardiovascular disease especially if it is associated with diabetes. Hence, the DOH recommends regular and reliable blood pressure monitoring and control.Avoiding the use of cigarettes is also highly-advised. The DOH said if taken for granted, the disease can lead to serious complications like blindness, kidney failure, stroke, heart attack, wounds that would not heal and impotence.

It said those who are at risk from the disease are obese people, people with hypertension, people with high cholesterol levels and people with sedentary lifestyles. Diabetes has several warning signs and these include frequent urination, excessive thirst, excessive hunger or eating and unexplained weight loss.

In 2006 the United Nations declared Nov. 14 as World Diabetes Day, the first time that a non-communicable disease was recognized as a global problem. The Philippine observance this year focuses on diabetic children and adolescents.

Detect diabetes on time

November 14. India

The day is celebrated in India as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary and Children’s Day. November 14 is also, incidentally,
World diabetes Day. I will take the liberty of yoking together these two disparate events to drive home a simple message — November 14 is not only about revellery and gaiety which mark Children’s Day. Take out time, this day, to educate your children about the disease called diabetes and that they should take precautions to nip the problem in the bud.

Let’s understand why? Today, India is called the ‘Diabetes Capital’ of the world, with more than 8% of the population affected by the pandemic. This equates to 41 million people. And frighteningly, more than 50% of people with diabetes are unaware of their condition, costing society millions of rupees in treating the many serious complications that arise from undiagnosed or poorly treated diabetes — blindness, kidney failure, nerve diseases, limb amputations and cardiovascular diseases, to name a few.

Importantly, in some countries, as many as 80% may not know they have the condition. Diabetes caused 3.8 million deaths globally in 2007, more than 6% of total world mortality and similar in magnitude to that reported for HIV/AIDS in the year 2002. Every 10 seconds, a person dies of a diabetes-related illness, and it is the fourth leading cause of death by disease globally.

That said, I would now turn to the growing problem of obesity among children and how many of them may actually be showing signs of auto immune disorders without even knowing about it. In fact, diabetes in a child is often completely overlooked: it is often misdiagnosed as the flu or it is not diagnosed at all. But the fact is that diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases to affect children. It can strike children of any age, even toddlers and babies. If not detected early enough in a child, the disease can be fatal or result in serious brain damage.

Concurs Dr Ambrish Mithal, senior consultant, endocrinology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi: “Type 1 diabetes is a clearly localised genetic defect, while type 2 diabetes has a strong inheritance factor but the defect is not localised. In fact, there’s a strong possibility that obese children of diabetic parents will develop the disease after 10 years of age.

The other triggers are environmental factors and physical inactivity. While type 2 diabetes can be managed by a dose of metformin and insulin shots, and in some cases only with oral drugs, the problem comes in type 1 diabetes children who can be treated only with insulin shots. We even see a lack of parental and societal acceptance for such patients and many of them lose their lives because of sheer ignorance.”