Diabetes: Early diagnose, proper care key to coping with disease

Diabetes patients suffer from slowdown of mental processing abilities that persist if the condition is not checked.

LAHORE: “If diagnosed early and necessary measures taken to keep it under control, people suffering from diabetes can lead a healthy life,” said Malik Hussain Mubbashar, vice chancellor University of Health Sciences (UHS), on Saturday.

He said diabetes patients suffered from a slowdown of mental processing abilities that persist if the condition is not checked.

Mubbashar said that diabetes patients had double the risk of suffering from depression. He added that depression worsened physical and mental functioning in patients causing them to ignore the required diet or medication plan.

Treating depression can improve a diabetic’s ability to cope with his condition. Half the people affected by diabetes remain unaware of it until very late.

“Pakistan is seventh in the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of countries with the most diabetic patients in 2008,” Dr Muhammad Imran, in charge of the Diabetes Endocrine Management Centre at the Lahore General Hospital, told the audience during another seminar.

He said that very few studies had been done inside the country to come up with a reliable number of affected people. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), he said, was the most reliable and it stated that by the end of 2010 the number of diabetes patients would exceed 8 million. He said it was 6.9 million in 2009, adding, that it was expected to rise to 11.5 million by 2025.

He said that the majority of diabetes patients were in urban areas. These, he said, were over 30 years of age, and mostly overweight.

The day is celebrated on November 14 as part of a campaign to raise awareness about the disease and its treatment. It was initiated in 1991 by the IDF and its member associations and was adopted as an official day by the United Nations in 2007. This year, a second five-year campaign will be launched by the IDF to educate people about the disease and its preventive measures.

Dr Javed Akram, the Allama Iqbal Medical College principal, said that diabetes was a chronic condition caused by abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood.

He added that whenever sugar level surges (mostly after meals) the pancreas automatically releases insulin to normalise it. In diabetics, he said, the pancreas either produced very little or no insulin, causing hyperglycemia, a chronic condition that can be controlled but not cured.

Dr Akram said that if not controlled, diabetes could cause permanent blindness, kidney failure and nerve damage. He added that by accelerating the process of hardening and narrowing of arteries, diabetes could increase the risk of strokes, coronary heart disease and other blood vessel diseases.

Rana Waqar, a diabetic, said that he had successfully controlled his condition by keeping a balanced diet, exercising regularly and following his physician’s prescription.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2010.