Bangalore: Keep of smoking, alcohol. Avoid stress

Since the lethal diabetes is on a rapid rise, prevention and controlling of its spread is crucial towards diabetes management, feels Dr Arpandev Bhattacharyya, diabetologist and endocrinologist at Manipal Hospital. In an interview with dna, Dr Bhattacharyya explains how adopting the right lifestyle can stem the flow of the disease.

In Bangalore, to what extent has the diabetes burden increased over the past few decades?
Its huge. In fact, estimates suggest that presently about 14-16% of the adult population in the city is diabetic. In the early 1990s, about 6-8% of adults in Bangalore were diabetic.

How can the risk factors be controlled?
Lifestyle modification is the key. People need to engage in routine exercises, adopt a healthy diet, avoid smoking and alcohol. And most important, try and be stress free. Moreover, diabetics need to follow the doctor’s advise and take the medications as and when prescribed.

But how is the awareness spreading?
It has improved considerably in Bangalore, thanks to all the campaigns that are happening. People are coming in for earlier and regular checks. In the US, people over 40 years are advised to get checked annually. But for the Indian setup, everyone should start going for annual BMI, blood pressure and blood sugar checks once they cross 25 years. This is because diabetes is catching Indians young.