KARACHI, July 7: Diabetes prevalence ranging from 10 per cent to 12 per cent in the country enhances urgency on part of patients as well as physicians to adopt necessary precautions to avoid wide range of complications including gregarine which ultimately leads to limb amputation.

Addressing a scientific symposium jointly organized by medicine department of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and the Pakistan Society of Physicians on Tuesday, Dr Masroor Ahmed mentioned that the diabetic patients visiting the tertiary care hospital generally report with severe complications.

It was thus necessary that community doctors should maintain proper vigilance besides proper counselling of the diabetic patients, he added. In this regard, he particularly stressed that even a minor ulcer noticed in a diabetic patient's foot must not be over looked.

"Any negligence to ensure that the wound heals properly could cause extremely traumatic consequence," he said. Reiterating that patients' ought to keep the disease under control, Dr Masroor termed diabetes mellitus a jungle fire in society which could be contained through timely diagnosis, proper treatment and absolute compliance to the therapy on part of the patients.

He said that more than 12,000 patients, generally with infected foot, visited the diabetic clinic of the JPMC on regular basis. In this regard, he also showed some photographs reflecting what diabetics might undergo - like multiples ulcers, loss of healthy skin and swelling - if they ignored proper care of their feet.

According to him, the ever growing pressure of such patients is turning almost beyond the capacity of the ward yet their miserable condition prompt health care providers to offer the best possible support and assistance.

Prof Mashoor Alam of JPMC's medicine department said that limb amputation was the ultimate option for patients presenting with gregarine. However, he added, the dressers and the doctors at the ward try their best to delay the traumatic experience for maximum possible time through proper and regular dressing.

Regretting the indifference on part of people in general towards the scenario, he called upon people, particularly the diabetic, to take equal care of their foot as their faces.

He maintained that diabetes was a horrendous disease and reminded that foot infection was one of the repercussions of the disease. He elaborated that even one small wound could take six months to heal.

According to him, it is an equal responsibility of medical professionals to educate the patients in order to preempt the stage, where they may be exposed to the complication.

Moreover, he said that the medical professional should convince those already reporting with wound to ensure proper care and cleanliness besides regular dressing. It may be mentioned here that Diabetes Type-2 accounts for over 90 per cent diabetes cases in the world.

The Type-2 is the real killer as the symptoms of its onset are mild and disease progression is often left undetected. High glucose levels in the blood can have a knock-on effect on other organs of the body posing a threat to the heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs.

The key, therefore, to managing type 2 diabetes lies in reducing insulin resistance in the early stages of the disease. Postgraduate students including Dr Zeeshan Ali, Dr Nadeem, Dr Hina and Dr Zartash Gul also made presentations on the occasion. - APP