Health Special: ICMR Guidelines on Diabetes

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in its fresh guidelines, noted that children who are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes could consume regular food items that contain salt, just like other children. A healthy lifestyle is vital for keeping diabetes in check. Insulin intake is inevitable as soon as type 1 diabetes is conformed in children. Besides, they need insulin shots throughout their life to survive.

Instructions about the diet, exercises for children, lifestyle management, insulin regulation, side effects and treatment schedules have been published in the guidelines. The ICMR has published these guidelines amid concerns that Covid 19 could have severe consequences for those who have diabetes.

In this context, it may be mentioned here that last year, researchers from the Boston Children’s Hospital had assessed the health of 551 people admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 in Italy from March through May 2020. About half of the patients (46 per cent), with no history of diabetes, were found to have new hyperglycemia. A follow-up showed that while most cases were resolved, about 35 per cent of the newly hyperglycemic patients remained so at least six months after the infection, said lead author of the study, Paolo Fiorina, from the Division of Nephrology at the hospital.

Compared to patients with no signs of glucose abnormalities, the hyperglycemic patients also had worse clinical concerns: longer hospitalisation, worse clinical symptoms, a higher need of oxygen, a higher need of ventilation, and increased need of intensive care treatment.

On the rising diabetes cases, Dr Chittaranjan Yajnik of the KEM Hospital and Research Centre, Pune says the escalating epidemic of diabetes in young Indians makes it imperative that we diagnose the type of diabetes correctly to avoid mistreatment and its long-term biological, social, and economic implications. The new genetic tool will be a great help in this. It will help decide the contribution of failing pancreatic B-cells against reduced action of insulin due to excess fat and smaller muscle mass in the body of Indians (‘thin-fat Indians’). He further said, “We look forward to using this test in diabetic patients from different parts of India where the physical characteristics of diabetic patients differ from the standard description.”

OBSERVATIONS

• India clocks in the highest reported cases of type 1 diabetes
• India records the second most number of adult diabetes cases in the world. Among every 6 diabetic persons, one is from India.
• There has been a whopping 150 per cent increase in the number of diabetic patients in the last three decades.
• The number of diabetes patients in the cities and villages is becoming equal.
• Reported cases of diabetes among 25 – 34 age groups in the rural areas.
• The number of children with type 1 diabetes is going up.
• Diabetes was the cause of the death of about 40 lakh people in 2019.