Too much of a good thing could be dangerous, particularly for diabetics. But what is causing concern to doctors and diabetologists is the pre-diabetic condition found in youngsters above 20 years. This could lead to future health complications and may be fatal too.
Dr Banshi Saboo is the key investigator for Gujarat for ICMR's 'India-D' study and president, Diabetes Care India. He said, "According to our study, so far nearly 14-22% of the population across India fall in the pre-diabetic condition. These people could get diabetes within a decade."
Dr Saboo explained that there are three known reasons for acquiring diabetes - family history, abdominal obesity and sedentary lifestyle. However, it can be prevented with timely tests and proper care.
According to an eight-month study conducted by Dr Chirag Shah and others in 12 camps, youth with a history of diabetes in the family were getting more prone to pre-diabetic incidence.
Also, people in the age group of 41-50 years are highly prone to develop diabetes.
Dr Chirag Shah along with Dr Nimisha Shah have formulated a chart for diabetic patients to both reduce their weight and also have a healthy life.According to the International Diabetes Federation data of 2009, 51 million people in India were found suffering from diabetes. But as per the 'India-D' study of ICMR, which is currently going on across 25 states and 8 major cities including Ahmedabad, 65 million people are diabetic.
Dr Saboo's study done in a small village, Bareja, near Ahmedabad,revealed that one-third of the population above 55 years was found to be diabetic and of this population, 50% were not aware about their condition.
Agreeing that the pre-diabetic condition was more prominent in the Indian population than diabetes, Dr Mayur Patel, project mentor for 'Stop Diabetes programme - a movement for diabetes free India' said, "Pre-diabetic incidence is more common today, nearly 140% more than patients found suffering from diabetes. The percentage of Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) found in people of Gujarat is very high". Owing to this, the conversion ratio from pre-diabetic to diabetic is very high.
Dr Patel continued, "The data till September 2011 reveals that of the 9,342 patients undergoing sugar testing, 1,849 were found to have diabetes and on further screening they were found to be suffering from complications."
Furthermore, 45.82% of urban population, 41.25% of the urban slum population and 25.49% of the rural population were found to be diabetic. Yet, 50% of this population was not aware about their diabetic condition, revealed Dr Patel.
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