Reader's Corner
| MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT DIABETES - | 1 2 3 |
| Dr Pradeep G. Talwalkar Source: MY DOCTOR Issue- October 1997 |
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| Diabetes Mellitus is a common metabolic syndrome affecting more than two crore Indians. Unlike diseases caused by germs, diabetes cannot be eliminated but it can be controlled by meticulous dietary restrictions, regular physical exercise and drug therapy. This will help in preventing or postponing the dreaded complications of diabetes. In order to achieve the goal of persistent control of blood glucose, it is imperative that a diabetic should gain a good working knowledge on diabetes and remove all the misconceptions prevalent in his mind. Some common misconceptions about diabetes, prevalent in the minds of diabetics, their relatives or occasionally even doctors, are given below along with the correct information. | |
| Prevalence of Diabetes | |
| That diabetes is mainly prevalent in Western countries and in out country, only rich people get it. | |
| Diabetes is prevalent all over the world. It has no geographic, religious, socio-economic or any other limitations. Obesity which is more common in financially well-off people, is one of the predisposing factors for non insulin dependent diabetes (Diabetes which develops in middle age). Hence diabetes is more common in obese people. However, in our country, large number of diabetics have a average or below average weight. Moreover, many of the underprivileged diabetics in our country remain undetected for a long time due to lack of medical facilities. | |
| That one who does not eat sweets, will not develop diabetes. | |
| Diabetes develops as a result of interplay between hereditary and environmental factors. Diabetics have deficiency of insulin, a hormone which is responsible for control of blood glucose. Insulin is produced in the pancreas. Anybody who develops moderate to severe deficiency of insulin, will have diabetes even if he does not eat any sweets. However, this does not mean that a known diabetic can eat any food which contains sugar. Artificial sweeteners such as saccharine, sweetex or equal are allowed. In a mild diabetic, blood glucose can be easily controlled by proper dietary restrictions only, whereas in a severe diabetic, if he disregards dietary restriction, his blood glucose will not be controlled even with a stiff dose of potent anti-diabetic drugs or insulin. | |
| That one will never get diabetes if none of his family members on father's as well as mother's side have or had diabetes. | |
As mentioned above, diabetes is a result of interplay between hereditary and environmental factors hence it does not necessarily express itself in every generation. Moreover, many of the mild diabetics remain undetected for several years and occasionally even life long. |
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| Diagnosis of diabetes | |
| That urine sugar test is sufficient to rule out diabetes. | |
Absence of sugar in the urine does not always rule out diabetes because mild diabetics do not pass sugar in their urine throughout the 24 hours and fasting urine will be devoid of sugar in them. Urine passed 2 hours after a full meal or 75 gms of glucose is more likely to have sugar as compared to urine passed in the morning. |
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| That presence of sugar in urine confirms diabetes | |
| Rarely in some conditions, other than diabetes, sugar is present in the urine and these should be ruled out before diagnosing diabetes. Some examples …. | |
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Hence it is always advisable to estimate blood glucose to confirm the diagnosis of diabetes. Fasting blood glucose less than 100 mg.% and post 75 mg., Glucose, blood glucose less than 140 mg.% rules out diabetes whereas values above 140 mg.% and 200 mg%, respectively confirm the diagnosis of diabetes. If these values are between 100-140 mg.% and 140-200 mg.%, respectively, the condition is known as Impaired glucose tolerance. These people are not diabetic but require repeated check-up every year as many of them develop diabetes after a few years. |
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