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Diabetics are more prone to flu

“Every time he develops a severe lung infection, he has to be hospitalised for several days. As much as Rs 40,000 is spent on his medical expenses,” his doctor said.

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Shankarlal Makwana (name changed) is 50 but looks at least a decade older, mainly because he has been in and out of hospital for much of the past year. Makwana has been diabetic for many years and his doctors feel that this has made him more prone to a variety of lung infections.

“Every time he develops a severe lung infection, he has to be hospitalised for several days. As much as Rs 40,000 is spent on his medical expenses,” his doctor told DNA. Once he even needed to be kept in an intensive care unit (ICU) because of serious breathing difficulties.

Makwana’s case is not an isolated incident. Thousands of people in Mumbai suffer from these kind of ailments every year during winter, says Dr Sanjeev Mehta, a chest physician with Lilavati Hospital.

The possibility of a diabetic patient catching flu and then developing a more serious illness is higher than a non-diabetic patient. The problem is worse if the patient’s diabetes is poorly controlled, Dr Mehta said.

 “If the diabetes is uncontrolled, the immune system is weak and any infection turns more aggressive. Hence the flu often progresses to pneumonia,” explains Dr Sujit Ranjan, a chest physician with the Bombay Hospital. Often the patient has to be hospitalised because doctors from two or three specialties have to be consulted.


 

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