Q. What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a health condition that arises when the body is unable to process sugar/glucose correctly. Due to this medical malfunction, glucose in the blood cannot enter the body cells due to lack of insulin resulting in an abnormally high level of glucose in the blood stream.
Q: I'm healthy... Can I be pre-Diabetic?
A: India has more than 72.2 Million pre-diabetic cases (both diagnosed and undiagnosed). Pre-diabetes means that your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Without intervention, pre-diabetes is likely to become type 2 diabetes in 10 years or less. You need to get yourself screened regularly to determine whether you are pre-diabetic or not and keep diabetes at bay.
Q. Which are the most common symptoms of diabetes?
Most individuals with diabetes exhibit these common symptoms:
- Increased thirst
- Weight loss
- Blurred vision
- Sores that do not heal
- Increased hunger
- Frequent fatigue
- Increased urination (especially at night)
Q. Which are the most common medical tests performed for diagnosis of diabetes?
The most common tests are:
- GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test)
- FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose) & PPBG (Post Prandial Blood Glucose)
- HbA1c (Glycated Haemoglobin levels)
Q. How can diabetes be prevented?
While there is no way to prevent Type 1 diabetes, it is possible to prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes to some extent by following a proper lifestyle including balanced & healthy diet and regular physical activity.
Q. What type of food is recommended in diabetes?
Diabetic diet should be low in sugar, low in saturated fat and high in fibre. More of carbohydrate must be given as complex starches rather than simple sugars as they breakdown more slowly to release glucose in blood. The presence of fibre in complex carbohydrate like whole grains, vegetables and other starches slow the glucose absorption. One should emphasise more on the high fibre foods such as whole cereals, pulses, vegetables and fruits.
Q. Are sweets to be completely avoided?
Sweets are rich sources of simple carbohydrates as well as fat and they increase the risk for cardiac diseases. So it is always better to discourage oneself on the intake of sweets. Other options like milk based sweets (oats porridge, vermicelli kheer) with small amount of sugar free supplement may be advised for patients whose blood sugars are under control; but always going by what your care-giver advises is the best thing to do.
Q. Is it necessary to follow the diet plan?
A diet plan is tailor made, keeping in mind the specific requirements of an individual’s condition. It is always beneficial to follow a diet plan so that all the nutritional requirements are adequately met. Many of the times our normal diet misses few important nutrients in our daily routine; a dietician on observing a patient’s diet ensures that these gaps are filled.
For diabetics who are obese it would be helpful to lose weight to maintain blood sugar levels and a correct diet plan by a dietitian, would help in achieving these targets.
Q. How important is lifestyle in the management of diabetes?
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is very essential for the control and management of diabetes. This includes making healthy eating choices and having an active lifestyle that includes some amount of walking, running and exercise. If proper lifestyle decisions are not made, diabetes can spiral out of control leading to various health complications.
