Diabetes stalks teens in steel city

amshedpur, Nov. 13: Parents of 18-year-old Ritesh Bhargav (name changed) was surprised when a doctor recently diagnosed him with diabetes. Though Ritesh’s father is himself a diabetic, he had never thought his son would turn out to be the same at such an early age.

When Tapas Chatterjee (19) was told he is a diabetic, he went for a second blood test at a different clinic but the result was the same.

Ritesh and Tapas are not the only case in the steel city, many children in this age bracket are being diagnosed of diabetes. City-based doctors blame the changing lifestyle of the youths for the rise in cases of diabetes.

Dr V.K. Virmani, who is a member of Diabetes India, claimed that young people are more affected with diabetes these days.

“Earlier, people in the age group of 40-45 years was affected by diabetes. But due to changing lifestyle even teenagers are being tested positive. The need of hour is to increase awareness about the diseases and find out ways of preventing it,” said Virmani.

He said that the members of Diabetes India in steel city would try to raise awareness among patient, who come to their clinic on Friday, to mark the World Diabetes Day.

Officials of Jamshedpur chapter of Indian Medical Association also conceded that the number of diabetes cases is on the rise.

“We do not have a data on the number of patients in the city but according to our estimate around 25 per cent of the population of the city has diabetes and almost every household has a diabetic patient. It should be noted that the disease happens to be a hereditary one and is carried from one generation to ano-ther,” said general secretary of Indian Medical Association, Jamshedpur, Dr Mritunjay Singh.

The doctors said the parents should ensure that their kids are not overweight, avoid junk food and exercise daily if they do not play. They said an awareness campaign is required in city to inform them about the lifestyle that gives rise to diabetes at such an early age.

“In fact, the schools should focus on inculcating the habit of exercise from an early age. Exercise should be made an important part of the curri-culum in all the schools. This would ensure that children are not overweight from an early age. Stress is also a reason behind diabetes in children and adult,” said Virmani.

According to Singh, diabetes is a metabolic disorder where human body does not produce or properly uses insulin, a hormone that is required to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy.

The doctors claimed that a diabetic patient should have a balanced diet prepared by the as stated by the physician and should exercise daily. Moreover, insulin or medicines should be taken according to the doctor’s advice.

Diabetes is the primary reason behind adult blindness, end-stage renal disease and amputations. Overweight, lack of exercise, family history and stress increase the likelihood of diabetes.
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