Lifestyle making young diabetes-prone

From Tribune India

Bathinda, May 26

Owing to unhealthy lifestyle, youngsters are increasingly getting prone to diabetes in the region.

Earlier, the disease would usually be found in adults above 40 years of age, but these days, it is seen in youngsters as well.

The main reasons behind this is said to be overweight and inactive and unhealthy lifestyle of youth.

The common symptoms of diabetes are increased appetite and thirst, unexplained weight loss, fatigability, skin infections, increased urination, blurring vision, sexual dysfunction, slow healing of wounds and itching in perineal area.

There are two types of diabetes — type 1 is called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and occurs at a young age or in childhood. There is a complete lack of hormone insulin in the patients.

Around 75 per cent of people have type 2 diabetes mellitus. The reasons for this are poor nutrition, rising stress levels, improper metabolism and lack of fitness.

Dr Sushil Kotru, head of Max Hospital’s endocrine diabetes and obesity care centre, said a large number of youngsters were getting prone to diabetes in the region and the main reason behind this is the unhealthy lifestyle and no physical activity.

He said on an average, he was getting more than 100 patients in the OPD every day.

He said diabetes was called a silent disease because many people don’t know about it even if they are suffering from it and people are also unaware about the problem.

He is treating patients as young as two-year-old, who are suffering from the disease, he added.

Dr Vitull K Gupta, consultant, Kishori Ram Hospital & Diabetes Care Centre and chairman, Association of Physicians of India (Malwa Branch), said people took this disease lightly, which was wrong as it was a deadly disease and the Health Department should create awareness among the masses about it.

He said this disease could lead to many complications relating to eye, foot, skin, heart, hypertension, mental, hearing loss, teeth and gastro.

Bathinda Civil Surgeon Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said diabetes was a non-communicable disease and its trend was increasing in the region.

He said, “Seeing the trend, we have started holding screening of patients for diabetes. If anyone is diagnosed with it then we hold counselling sessions for the patient. We are trying to create awareness about the disease through health centres.”

Precautions

Taking normal sleep of about seven hours at night goes a long way in normalising the heart rate (pulse), chemical responses in the body, especially related to clotting and anti-clotting responses and sugar control.

Exercise in moderation for about five days a week helps in normalising sugar levels and cholesterol.

Eating habits

Healthy eating habits and eating the right mix of food plays a significant role in preventing illness.

The food allowed for diabetic patients is lemon water, ‘khatti lassi’, balck tea, sprouted dals, clear soups without fat, salads that include onion, cucumber, radish, cabbage, tomato and boiled green leafy vegetables.

Food that is allowed in moderate quantity is whole wheat flour, whole dals, beans, cooked vegetables and fruits, skimmed milk and its products, egg white, lean meat and fish, almonds, walnuts and sugar free items.
The food items that are totally prohibited for a diabetic patient are all sweets, sugar, gur, honey, sugar syrup, glucose, puddings, chocolate, pastries, cakes, biscuits, banana, mango, grapes, dates, alcoholic drinks, cold drinks, sharbats, dry fruits, and fried items like puri, prantha, samosa, pakoda.

These days even painless glucose continuous monitoring pumps are available in the market at the cost of around Rs two lakh.

This pump is attached with the body of the patient and it automatically controls the content of sugar in the body.

Even insulin pen injections are also available in the market at a reasonable price.

According to the World Health Organisation, the number of diabetics in India doubled in 13 years, from 32 million in 2000 to 63 million in 2013 and the figure is likely to surge to 101.2 million in the next two years.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/cities/bathinda/lifestyle-making-young-diabetes-prone/242616.html