Healthy diet, regular exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose, proper insulin administration, support from the health care personnel and inter-patient support are among the key aspects in the Type 1 diabetes management (T1DM), according to Dr. Nihal Thomas, Head of the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.
Speaking at the second annual meeting of the T1DM support group held at the CMC Hospital here on Saturday, Dr. Thomas said that India being the diabetes capital of the world harbours a large population of unrecognised young patients with T1DM who need lifelong insulin. Every 5th T1DM child in the world is an Indian with a prevalence ranging from 3-18 per one lakh children in the 0-14 age group. The incidence in the younger children is increasing by 3 per cent per annum. Almost all including the family members find it hard to cope with T1DM of the child. Numerous factors such as low socio-economic status, a significant illiteracy rate and inaccurate public perception of health care management of chronic diseases are among the numerous factors which hindered diabetes management, he said.
The Head of the Department said that the support group — a dedicated team of doctors, diabetes educators, support staff and the patients themselves — was established in 2011 with the help of making T1DM less painful and more cheerful.
Dr. Premila Lee, Nursing Superintendent, CMCH unveiled the specially designed T1DM calendar which was distributed to all the patients. The concept of creating support groups of people sharing a common disease was started in the western countries and is the need of the hour in India. It would benefit the patients and their family members, she said.
One of the highlights of the meeting was a presentation of the life stories of famous personalities with T1DM such as cricketer Wasim Akram, actor Kamal Hassan, TV anchor Gaurav Kapoor, Olympic swimming champion Gary Hall and athlete Sebastien Sasseville, first ever patient with T1DM to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Their stories demonstrated that with determination and optimism, anyone with T1DM can live a life filled with vigour.
Second annual meeting of T1DM support group held
