Sugar is Sour After All!

World Diabetes Day (November 14th)
​

Limit Sugar Intake, Click the Unlike Button in your Heart

WDD has the Largest Global Reach

Johny Johny, Yes Papa
Eating Sugar? No Papa
Telling Lies? No Papa
Open Your Mouth, Ha Ha Ha
​
This rhyme resonates well with the global population, but the sad fact is that we don’t even allow kids today to eat sugar and sweets as during earlier times fearing the attack of juvenile diabetes or diabetes in later stages of life. These days, there are more people who drink their coffee and tea without sugar, a wide array of diabetic-friendly dishes and sweets, rallies against diabetes and even some people who reduce intake of fruits fearing an increase in sugar levels! This just shows the stark state of our world regarding diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease that manifests itself when the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin or when the body is unable to make good use of the insulin. Either of these increase glucose levels in blood and over time increased glucose levels prove hazardous to our body’s health leading to organ failure as well.

World Diabetes Day (WDD)
Established in 1991 as a joint venture of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) this day was celebrated with the sole intention of reducing the growing diabetes threat. In due course it became an official United Nations Day in 2006. November 14th is chosen as the special day to embrace this disease as it marks the birthday of Sir Fredrick Banting who discovered insulin along with Charles Best. Despite celebrating such a day, the diabetes epidemic has been ignored for more than long.

The WDD is the world’s largest diabetes campaign having a global reach of more than 1 billion people in over 160 countries. It helps to throw light on diabetes and make people aware of the issues of utmost importance. There are more than 425 million individuals living with diabetes although most of the cases are greatly preventable by following a healthy lifestyle, doing physical activity regularly, eating a well-balanced diet and staying on a healthy weight. This is only a part of the diabetes population and almost 1 in 2 people living with diabetes are leading lives undiagnosed of the disease. Early detection and treatment play a vital role in keeping diabetes at bay. Campaigns such as the WDD help in spreading awareness about the symptoms of the chronic disease and help people doubt the existence of it. If you are a diabetic patient seeking for effective lifestyle changes, get in touch with reputed dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who specialize in diabetes management.

WHO estimates show diabetes to be the seventh leading cause of death in the year 2016. Uncontrolled diabetes can even lead to kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, blindness and lower limb amputation.

Each year the WDD has a theme based on which actions are implemented and this theme extends for a year or continues for many years. The theme for 2018 is Family and Diabetes. This year’s theme has been planned for a two-year stint during which it hopes to increase the participation of family members in helping the patient with diabetes and also raise awareness among families regarding the impact that diabetes has on their lives.

Impact of Diabetes on Family
While many families are unable to make both ends meet, how on Earth are they going to withstand the expenditure for insulin injections and medications? Many countries around the world have families whose 50% income is spent on insulin injections and getting medications seem out of question for many of them. This year’s theme focuses on improving family awareness about diabetes management and providing affordable diabetes medications to avoid increase in costs.

There have been substantial evidences showing that family support helps to improve the health of people suffering from diabetes. Sadly, less than 1 in 4 members have access to diabetes education programs. When access is provided to all members we can look forward to reducing the negative impact of diabetes on the life of the family members and even help maintain their quality of life.

---