AMU doctor delivers talk on World Diabetes Day

Aligarh : Dr Hamid Ashraf, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) pressed the need for awareness on diabetes, its prevention and the need for a healthy lifestyle in a talk on ‘Diabetes: Know it to prevent it’ to mark the World Diabetes Day.

“Diabetes might be incurable, but its symptoms can be managed”, he said while addressing patients.

Dr Hamid urged them to maintain a healthy weight; exercise regularly; have a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables and fibre; quit tobacco use and alcohol consumption.

Bringing attention to the use of new technologies for diabetes management, he said: “Technology has come a long way in a short period of time to provide significant improvements in overall control for people with diabetes. Continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps can mean the difference between hospitalisation and good health outcomes”.

Dr Hamid also informed the patients about various diabetes classifications and the ways to prevent the disease.

He said: “Type 1 Diabetes is characterized by absence of insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta cells. It is usually found in children and young adults, mostly these patients are lean and thin; whereas in Type 2 Diabetes, accounting for most diabetes cases, there is a reduced response to insulin at the cellular level”.

“There is no approved therapy for Type 1 diabetes and it cannot be prevented, but Type 2 Diabetes is kept at bay with healthier lifestyle and dietary habits”, stressed Dr Hamid.

He also spoke on Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and other forms of diabetes and warned that since this lifestyle disease increases the risk of cardiac arrest, causes blindness and organ failures; it is imperative that people know how to prevent and manage diabetes.