The problem of diabetes in India has escalated into an important issue that affects millions within the country. The WHO had estimated 77 million people suffering from diabetes, and nearly 25 million were pre-diabetics, at a higher risk of developing diabetes in near future. With such high prevalence rates, it has, therefore, placed india among the top countries for diabetes prevalence. A survey commissioned by the health ministry also found that 136 million people or 15% of the people could be living with pre-diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the condition.
Diabetes affects about one in 11 adults worldwide and increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation. It is normally split into type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes is rare and is most often diagnosed in children and teenagers; it is caused by a failure of the body to produce insulin, an essential hormone that controls the blood sugar content within the body. It occurs far more frequently than Type 2 and is also typically at a late age in the life cycle. The causes are either lack of production of insulin or impaired use of the hormone. The disorder often accompanies lifestyles that are obese and sedentary. Type 2 diabetes is largely seen as a disease of poor lifestyle as body fat can affect the way the insulin works. People have high blood sugars because they are unable to make enough insulin, a hormone, or respond to it properly.
Diabetes is such a disease that creates many complications related to health issues, which affect the lifestyle of a person highly. Some of these complications include heart disease and renal failure, coupled with vision problems. Blood vessels in diabetics are damaged; therefore, patient’s increased risks of suffering from heart attacks and strokes also increase. High diabetes symptoms are that kidney failure leads to the kidneys losing their filtering ability to remove waste materials from the blood. Diabetic patients become patients requiring dialysis or a transplant of the kidney.
There is an urgent need for individuals, the family, the society and communities as well as government and non-governmental organizations to work together to stem the tide of the diabetes epidemic. The good news is that prevention of diabetes is possible. As diabetes is an asymptomatic disease, one has to start screening early, particularly in high-risk groups.
