The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : `Awareness drives vital as diabetes prevalence is high'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 08, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Awareness drives vital as diabetes prevalence is high'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 7. More detection camps and awareness programmes will be held as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of India's first hospital for diabetes care, M.V. Hospital for Diabetes (MVHD) here.

Prof. M. Viswanathan, who developed a special diet for diabetics (rice-based calorie-restricted, high-carbohydrate, low fat and high-fibre diet), established the hospital in 1954. Since then, the doctors and researchers there have produced 500 original papers, of which 300 are published in peer-reviewed journals, said the joint director, Vijay Viswanathan.

The director, A. Ramachandran, said awareness drives were important given the high levels of prevalence of the disorder.

Addressing presspersons here today, Dr. Ramachandran said the increase in the prevalence among both urban and rural adult populations in India was not seen anywhere else in the world. The MVHD conducted periodic studies. In 1984, only five per cent of the population screened was diabetic. It rose to 13.5 per cent in 2000.

A pre-diabetic stage, Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), was also increasing rapidly. In 1984, only two per cent of the adult population surveyed had IGT. In 2000, this figure stood at 16.8 per cent. He said 30-50 per cent of the people with IGT later developed diabetes.

Window of opportunity

IGT offered an opportunity to study how the disorder developed and presented "a window of opportunity" to control it, Dr. Ramachandran said.

In rural populations the incidence grew from 2.2 per cent (1989) to 6.36 per cent (2003).

One could have the disorder and not show any symptom at all. This was why diabetologists called for screening of all patients at the first given opportunity — even when they turned up for some other disease.

The Governor, S.S. Barnala, will be the chief guest at the golden jubilee year celebrations on December 19.

The Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, R.A. Mashelkar, will deliver the Prof. M. Viswanathan endowment golden jubilee public lecture on the `emerging Indian role in drug discovery, development and delivery: balancing local relevance and global excellence.'

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