Silent disease snaring more of the young

Silent disease snaring more of the young

You think that you’re in the pink of health and skip that blood sugar test your doctor ordered. But here’s the clincher: not only is the age at which you may develop diabetes dropping, but complications arising from it are also setting in early. tells you how to fight back

Dr Kishore Pawar took all necessary precautions after he was diagnosed with diabetes. After all, the general physician knew better than to ignore this silent killer disease. But, he found that the precautions weren’t enough. The 39-year-old developed a rare complication — an embolism in the leg. And amputation was the only way to treat it. Dr Tushar Rege, a consultant diabetic foot surgeon at SL Raheja Hospital who performed the surgery last week, says, “The leg turned pale and became lifeless after an artery was suddenly blocked. There was no way the leg could have been saved.” The physician at least knew what had led to his condition. Sameer Patil (name changed), 38, whose leg was also amputated by Dr Rege last week, had missed all the early warning signs of diabetes. “Patil is a teacher. He suffered from a foot ulcer and infection for five days. When he came to us, we found that he had an abnormally high blood sugar level of 500mg/dL (a normal person’s blood sugar level ranges between 80mg/dL and 120mg/dL). He had no idea that he had diabetes,” explains Dr Rege. The hardest part, the surgeon found, was making the teacher comes to terms with his condition. Patil is now recuperating at the hospital after the surgery. Dr Rege, who had to perform one more such amputation last week, is worried about the trend of the early onset of the complications arising from diabetes. Worse, more and more of the young in the city are developing this condition, courtesy, a sedentary lifestyle. “Complications arising from diabetes take seven years to set in. But, this gap has been narrowing. Often, the young get to know that they have diabetes only after they develop complications,” says Dr Rege. He adds that even those who are under treatment for diabetes tend to ignore minor injuries like a shoe bite or an infection in the feet, which leads to a condition that leaves no way out but amputation. Dr Arun Bal, diabetic foot surgeon and founder-president of the Diabetic Foot Society of India, agrees. “A total of 15% of the diabetic population develops foot ulcers. Many people lose their limbs in accidents; across the world, somebody loses a limb every 30 minutes from a landmine blast. But, every 30 seconds, a diabetic loses a limb due to poor foot health.” The Diabetic Foot Society of India estimates that every year, two lakh diabetics undergo leg amputation due to poor treatment of foot ulcers. Experts believe that 85% of these amputations can be prevented through simple foot care and by wearing proper footwear. “Of the 62 million diabetes patients in India, more than 50% is in the age group of 35-55 — the economically productive age. So, the loss of a leg can be devastating to a family. The age at which people are developing diabetes has also been dropping in Mumbai. We see people in their late 20s developing it, which means that complications may begin to set in by the time they hit late 30s, if they don’t take precautions,” warns Dr Rege. Doctors claim that they have seen a 10-fold rise in diabetes cases in the age group of 20-30 over the last decade. Dr Shashank Joshi, consulting endocrinologist at Lilavati Hospital, blames this trend on sedentary lifestyles in urban areas. Mumbaikars should worry even more. A metropolis study conducted in 2011 in five major Indian cities showed that Mumbai has more diabetics in the age group of 18-30. Most of them get to their doctor late because they miss the early signs. Dr Jatinder Bhatia, chief of lab services, projects, North India, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd, says, “We conducted a pan-India survey that indicates that there is a high incidence of diabetes in the age group of 18-30 in Mumbai as compared to other cities.” A total of 28,79,175 people were screened from Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Chennai and Bangalore. “More younger people are falling prey to diabetes. This unhealthy trend is a result of a combination of over-eating, junk food and a sedentary lifestyle. In a city like Mumbai, people follow unhealthy lifestyles and face a lot of stress, which can be a major factor contributing to the onset of the disease,” explains Dr Bhatia. Dr Hemraj Chandalia, director of Diabetes Endocrine Nutrition Management and Research Centre, points fingers at the resultant combination of genetics and the environment for the high incidence of diabetes cases. “While Indians are genetically prone to diabetes, the key to skirt the problem is by improving one’s lifestyle.” Leg amputation shouldn’t alone be on your worry list. Many diabetic youth are landing up in hospitals with kidney-related problems. Dr Jatin Kothari, consulting nephrologist, PD Hinduja Hospital, says, “In the last few years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of people with diabetes developing kidney problems. We are getting more type-II diabetes cases than type-I ones. The progression of kidney problems in a type-II diabetes patient is faster and more difficult to treat.” Dr Joshi advises that lifestyle modifications, change of diet and regular exercise can go a long way in keeping diabetes under check. “Every woman with a waist circumference of over 80cm and every man with one of over 90cm should get screened for diabetes every year. Even lean people over the age of 40 should do so.” Dr Rege suggests beginning the screening process even earlier. “Since we are seeing young patients with diabetes, people in their 30s should get themselves regularly tested.”