Bangalore: Twenty-eight year old Suresh (name changed), an IT professional, suddenly developed frequent hunger pangs and found himself going to the restroom once too often. Already obese at such a young age, he gets no exercise and mostly eats junk, while his work-related deadlines make life stressful. When he visited a doctor for his problem, he was told he was diabetic.

Zayed (name changed), 22, a native of Kashmir studying radiography in a college in Bangalore, complained of tiredness and a sick feeling in the stomach last week. But for timely intervention, he would have slipped into a diabetic coma. Zayed's blood sugar had shot up to an unbelievable 1,700 mg/dL, as against the normal levels of 70 mg/dL to 115 mg/dL. Doctors diagnosed him as having Type-1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes or commonly called "juvenile diabetes").

With a large section of Bangaloreans leading sedentary but highly stressful lives with erratic eating habits, the IT City is fast becoming the Diabetes Capital of India. Medical experts put the figure at 10 to 13 per cent of the city's 70-lakh population as having Diabetes Mellitus, which works out to over seven lakh at least. Sadly, a large segment of non-urban/rural diabetics are daily wage workers belonging to the lower economic strata and are the sole breadwinners for the entire family.

"Industrialisation has brought more stress and less usage of limbs. In a place like Bangalore especially, people are busy meeting deadlines. They hardly exercise and have wrong eating habits, leading to obesity," said B. Ganapathi, Associate Professor of Endocrinology at the St. John's Medical College Hospital here. The hospital receives at least 80 diabetics every day, many under 35. He has seen the numbers rise amongst techies.

A 1997 World Health Organisation (WHO) report had shown a marked increase in the number of diabetics and this trend is expected to grow in the next couple of decades. In the International Diabetes Federation Conference 2003 held in Paris, India was labelled as "Diabetes Capital of the World," as of about 190 million diabetics worldwide, more than 33 million are Indians. The worldwide figure is expected to rise to 330 million — 52 million of them Indians — by 2025, largely due to population growth, ageing, urbanisation, unhealthy eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

Type II Diabetes (not depending on insulin) is the most common form of diabetes (90 to 95 per cent) and occurs primarily in adults but is now also affecting children and young adults. Type I Diabetes (insulin-dependant) affects predominately children and youth, and is the less common form of diabetes (5 to 10 per cent).

Positive aspects

But not all is lost for diabetics. They can lead a normal, productive life if they adopt a disciplined healthy lifestyle and take preventive medical care, said S.S. Srikanta, diabetologist and Medical Director of Samatvam: Endocrinology Diabetes Center.

"Earlier diabetes was labelled as the silent killer but it is not so. It is a gentle life partner as with proper care and a disciplined life people can lead a normal life."

With medical advances, today's diabetics can hope to lead a quality life. "Nowadays newer medicines for diabetes are available that act in a faster and more effective way. The cost of insulin has also come down," Dr. Srikanta said. Better management of diabetes is possible with the availability of glucose monitors and pumps that deliver fast-acting insulin into the body whenever necessary. Inhaled insulin is currently available in the U.S. while oral insulin may be round the corner.

Clinical trials for vaccine to prevent Type-1 diabetes are being conducted and may soon be a success, hoped Dr. Srikanta.

What causes diabetes?

"Heredity, age, excess body weight, lack of exercise and bad dietary habits all contribute to the onset of diabetes. Smoking and being overweight increase the risk considerably," said Dr. Srikanta.

Many children and young adults are being diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes, which was unheard of few years ago. In addition to heredity, lack of physical activity and obesity is blamed for this.

The Hindu features a series on citizens and their concerns in this space every Wednesday. Readers may share experiences in relation to published articles and email their feedback or suggestions to bgreporters@thehindu.co.in or post them to Public Eye, The Hindu, 19 and 21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road, Bangalore 560001. Mails must carry your full name and address.

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