Shunning anything sweet is the most difficult proposition for the diabetic anywhere. It is even more difficult for those in Kerala because they view the traditional fare at frequent functions more as inevitable than irresistible.
What follows is even worse. Diabetics who cannot avoid this tendency believe that an extra anti-diabetes pill will keep the blood sugar level down. “This is fraught with the risk of end-organ damage in the long run,” says diabetologist A.K. Suresh Kumar.
An extra dose of glibenclamide drug, a very potent hypoglycaemic agent that brings down blood sugar, is taken after such deviations from the prescribed diabetic diet regimen. There are many such cases, says the doctor.
“They say that it is difficult to resist sweets that have been part of the traditional fare since their childhood. But the option of an extra pill to keep the blood sugar down damages the blood vessel,” the diabetologist warns.
“When they consume any sweet dish, the blood sugar level shoots up. The extra tablet or half tablet then brings it down sharply – from hyperglycaemia to even hypoglycaemia. This is called a glycaemic excursion. If there is no will to keep off such dishes, such excursions can happen often,” he says.
Frequent glycaemic excursions can cause damage to the endothelium, the inner lining of the artery. Inflammation occurs and unhealthy cholesterol deposits in this area. This could happen in a blood vessel in the heart, one leading to the brain or the ones to the legs, thereby causing damage to the organs or limbs.
Most people who have high blood sugar level have only themselves to blame – for not being resolute. Instead, most of them complain of uncontrollable diabetes. There is nothing such as uncontrollable diabetes. It is only uncontrolled.
While uncontrolled is the fact, uncontrollable is an excuse. And, it is this excuse that is sought to be exploited by persons offering alternative therapies to cure diabetes, while the truth is that it can only be controlled.
There is no substitute to the time-tested method of safe diet, exercise and proven drug therapy, Dr. Suresh Kumar says.
(Reporting by
K.V. Prasad)
