Diabetes mellitus has already reached potentially epidemic proportions in India. What is worse is the fact that there are no immediate hopes of abetment. On the contrary, rapid urbanization, sedentary lifestyles, increasing levels of stress and completely unhealthy food habits are aiding its march. We are neck to neck with China for the top slot – the Nation with the highest incidence of Diabetes, a dubious distinction, as many doctors claim, we will soon achieve, perhaps for good.
However, there is no reason to cheer as diabetes, long considered to be rich man’s ailment – something that was aggravated due to lifestyle disorders – has also demolished the poverty line and is now afflicting those below with increasing frequencies. The so-called rural-urban divide too, has fallen primarily due to the fact that actual diagnosis and reporting systems have improved in the rural areas leading to more actual cases being diagnosed. But then again, such reported cases, apart from inflating the numbers and pointing at the clock ticking away is doing precious little as its treatment continues to be scarce, are givers pathetically few and far between and the cost of treatment prohibitive by Indian standards.
The level of morbidity and mortality due to diabetes and its potential complications are colossal as apart from everything else, they pose significant healthcare burdens on both the affected families and the healthcare system. The Nation does not have “adequate” resources to spend on trivial issues like these and the afflicted think that they were certainly better off in their ignorance. Quacks do their bit. The Gods chip in where they can. And private hospitals continue their search for excellence – like drops of water in the desert sands. All this as the “Great Indian Diabetes Novel” is written far from the madding crowds – where Mellitus is becoming synonymous with Malicious and malignancy rules.
That is no laughing matter though. Diabetes is now being shown to be associated with a spectrum of complications and to be occurring at a relatively younger age within the country. It may not be the sole cause, but causa proxima it certainly is for everything from cardio logical to urological disorders often aggravating problems to unmanageable levels. The way it is mutating, afflicting progressively and manifesting itself in our young is alarming by any standards. As senior practitioners opine, if left unchecked, the young population conundrum that we are peddling on global forums will actually be too ill be help us reap the demographic dividends with Diabetes being the culprit.
However, the biggest anomaly, if there is one, in this entire sordid saga of ignorance and apathy is the lack of organised research on a National level. Are North Indians with their boisterous, pure ghee fuelled lifestyles and junk food induced westernization more prone to diabetes? Are the people of the South with their more traditional food habits less susceptible? What about women, are they as vulnerable as their men? What is the actual incidence of juvenile diabetes? What is the mortality rate that can be ascribed directly to diabetes? Are all prescribed drugs having the same effect across all ethnic groups? What should be the preferred management systems based on the ground realities and considering the specific case histories of individual patients? What are the new strains that are emerging? How do we best arrest the occurrence of malignancies? Alas, we have a very few answers. And the less we talk about awareness in the grassroots, among those who suffer from this silent killer, the better.
IGT (impaired glucose tolerance) – now, what the hell is that, again?
(the piece was written for the Express Health Guide)