On 7th April 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) held the first World Health Assembly and since then the assembly decided to celebrate the Birthday of the organization on 7th April of each year as ‘The World Health Day’. It is one of the 8 official global public health campaigns marked by WHO along with World Tuberculosis day, World Immunization Week, World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Hepatitis Day, and World AIDS Day. Every year the WHO selects an area of global public health concern as the theme for World Health Day.
The theme for World Health Day 2016 is ‘Beat Diabetes’. Diabetes is a non-communicable disease directly impacting millions of people around the world, mostly in low and middle income countries. The main goals of the World Health Day 2016 campaign is to increase awareness about the rise in diabetes, its burden, its consequences and to trigger a set of actions to tackle diabetes. More than 350 million people worldwide have diabetes and this number is likely to double in the next 20 years.
A Diabetes screening camp was conducted in Chumukedima market, Dimapur on 14th November 2015 by the Department of Community Health, CIHSR (Referral Hospital) on account of World Diabetes Day. Out of the 527 people above 30 years of age who were screened for diabetes, 33 of them had high blood sugar levels. There were 43 known cases of diabetes and among them 22 of them had uncontrolled blood sugar levels. Eleven people did not even know they had high blood sugar levels and were tested for the first time at this camp and were referred to a hospital for treatment. In simple words it means that approximately one in ten persons in the Chumukedima market, Dimapur had diabetes that day.
In an ongoing Community based prevalence study of diabetes conducted in the rural block of Dansiripar in Dimapur, out of the 336 people screened so far 22 of them had high blood sugar levels.
Every one of us in Dimapur, above 35 years of age is at risk for developing diabetes. The number of people living with diabetes are usually more in the urban areas as compared to the rural areas owing to the change in traditional lifestyle and food habits to a more western oriented lifestyle.
What is DIABETES?
Diabetes is a chronic, non-communicable disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels which over time can irreversibly damage the heart, brain, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
All the cells in the body need sugar to work normally and sugar enters the cells with the help of a hormone called insulin. If there is not enough insulin or the body stops responding to insulin, sugar is not absorbed and builds up in the blood. The most common form of diabetes accounting for 90% of the cases worldwide is Type 2 Diabetes which is common among adults above 35 years of age and is due to the body’s ineffective use of insulin. The other form of diabetes is Type 1 is common among children characterized by deficient insulin production.
Common symptoms of Diabetes:
• Frequent urination
• Intense thirst
• Blurry vision
• Pain, numbness, loss of sensation in hands and feet
Who should get tested for diabetes?
• Having any of the above symptoms,
• Any person above the age of 35 years, • Overweight or obese persons, • People who do very little physical activity, • Smokers,
• Anyone who has a family history of diabetes and • Women who have had high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
What should I do to reduce the risk of diabetes?
• Lose weight- losing 5 to 10 % of your present body weight can significantly lower your risk.
• Be active for 30 minutes a day- walking, gardening, dancing are all activities that can help.
• Eat right-Choose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low fat dietary products, stay low on meat, sweets, sweet drinks like soda and juice.
• Quit smoking.
Complications: The complications of diabetes are due to the changes in the large and small blood vessels in our body. The common complications are:
• Heart attack • Stroke
• Kidney failure
• Decreased vision or even blindness
• Amputation
Today diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputation and kidney failure worldwide.
The complications of diabetes not only affects the patient economically but also their families and increases the burden on health systems and the national economy due to direct medical costs and loss of work and wages.
In type 2 diabetes, disease onset is insidious, and diagnosis is often delayed. As a result, diabetic complications may already be present at the time of diagnosis of diabetes and can be detected only with special investigations.
Reference: www.who.int, www.uptodate.com Beat Diabetes…. with the beat!!!
To commemorate this day, Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (Referral Hospital) ,in association with Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Nagaland and Performing Arts With Fitness (PAWF) is conducting a special program called ‘Beat Diabetes…with the beat!!!’ on the 7th of April 2016 at CIHSR(Referral Hospital) football field. PAWF will take stage and involve the gathering with dance and Zumba fitness and other fun filled physical activities, which are few ways to ‘ Beat Diabetes’.
The entry is free for the public and there will free blood sugar testing along with health education about diabetes at the venue.
Dr.Rohan Michael Ramesh MBBS MD Department of Community Health Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research (Referral Hospital) Dimapur
