KARACHI, Aug 11: Despite the fact that the incidence rate of juvenile Diabetes (Diabetes Type 1) is very low among local children, the lack of awareness and misconceptions about the condition have turned it into a trauma for affected children and concerned parents.
The condition — found in only 0.7 of every 1000 children in the country — holds a stigma that makes life extremely difficult for children inflicted with the disease.
Diabetes among children is often wrongly grouped with such contagious diseases as Tuberculosis, resulting in unnecessary isolation of the child.
The very revelation that a child is diabetic and that his/her dependency on insulin may be lifelong is often found to add to the misery of the guardians.
Ironically, unnecessary delay in the timely and proper medical intervention is found to exposes many of the child patients to difficult conditions.
Parents could be held responsible for the situation, as they, owing to the rampant misconception about the ailment, largely fail to accept that diabetes is not infectious and that it may have occurred to their child.
Many parents have yet to realize that adopting an adequate methodology under the guidance of well trained doctors may provide the chance of a quality life to their offspring. Instead, they often prefer to approach a quack or a shaman.
Paediatricians, with reference to long term management of Diabetes Type 1, strongly suggest that child patients must be allowed normal physical activity, such as an hour of exercise each day, and should be discouraged for sleeping for long durations.
The diet and nutrition for such children should be as broad as possible, with particular care to avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates. Major emphasis should also be on high fibre foods and a low fat diet, which must again not be made distinctive to food taken by other members of the family.
The fact that the non-availability of insulin at affordable rates is again a major dilemma for a large majority of citizens cannot be overlooked.
DIABETES AWARENESS: Senior diabetes expert, Dr Fatima Jawad, expressing her concern about the surge in the incidence of diabetes, has underscored the need for massive awareness about the disease among the masses as well as health care providers.
The senior member of the Pakistan Diabetic Association (PDA) said that the ailment is a metabolic disorder, caused by either an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin, could be prevented in most cases through healthy lifestyle.
The aim of treatment is to keep blood glucose in normal range at all times she said, adding that since it is a chronic lifelong disorder, the affected person requires family support and motivation from the doctor.
The complications of the disease are varied and severe, including retinopathy and gangrene, besides an increased vulnerability to cardiac complications.
Reiterating the need to sensitize people about diabetes, Dr Fatima said that each year the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) selects a theme. This year it is “Your Eyes and Diabetes: Don’t Lose Sight of the Risks.”
She elaborated that the damage diabetes does to the eyes is called Diabetic Retinopathy, and is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in adults.
Studies show that good control of blood glucose levels reduces the risk of retinopathy by 70 per cent.—APP