Devadas Patne, a retired banker from Khed in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, was diagnosed with diabetes 15 years ago. Aged 59 at the time, no history of diabetes running in the family and enjoying a healthy and active lifestyle, Patne believes it was hypertension and anxiety that resulted in the disease.
"In 1994, the bank I was working at closed down after I exposed a scam there. The legal process that followed, in which even I was implicated, took a huge toll on my mind. The stress was unbearable and my health started to decline during those years. I also had a feud with my brothers, all of which even caused me to have a mild heart attack in my sleep," Patne recalled.
He was eventually declared not guilty by a court.
"For my work, I had to travel to distant villages. There were days when I walked as much as 30 kilometres. I swam in the Jagbudi river almost everyday. I have heard that many youngsters get diabetes due to unhealthy lifestyles, but it can't be the case with me. The stress caused by the loss of employment could've been the only cause of my diabetes," he said.
It also couldn't have been his diet, since he always ate in moderation as explained by his wife Sanvedana. "In the last 20 years, he has demanded sweets. He never eats a lot in one go, but he feels hungry every couple of hours.
And if his hunger is not satiated immediately, he gets annoyed. In the decade after his diabetes was diagnosed, he was very irritable, lost his temper over minor issues," she added.
Thanks to periodic medications from a Kolhapur-based doctor and a healthy diet, Patne has kept his sugar levels in check. Although even today, he falls short of breath frequently and rarely walks a few hundred metres without tiring himself. "It's unusual for a diabetes patient to look in good shape from the outside, but the disease does hollow one from within, making one vulnerable to sudden medical complications," Patne said.
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 "Devadas Patne")
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