Public at greater risk due to undiagnosed diabetes: Experts

CHENNAI: Even as diabetes has seen a huge surge in the last few years, medical experts said that a large number of undiagnosed cases are of greater concern.

Undiagnosed cases are the biggest challenge in bringing down the diabetes burden, making the medical fraternity give priority to expanding the reach of diabetes screening. Timely diagnosis of Diabetes can help avoid developing other health complications such as cardiovascular, renal and eye diseases, associated with diabetes, doctors said.

Dr C R Mahesh Babu, Senior Consultant, Department of Diabetology, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre said testing is important for everyone over 35 years of age, but is crucial for people who have a family history of diabetics, obesity and lead a sedentary lifestyle. Fasting sugar test, post-meal sugar test, and Haemoglobin A1c level test to comprehensively assess diabetes are crucial.”

In the era of social media, blindly believing in unscientific information to manage out of control diabetes is another challenge the medical fraternity is facing. Doctors asserted that even though people may have access to various information via social media, they should consult qualified people to come to a conclusion. Both untreated or wrongly treated diabetes can lead to serious health issues like blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, and lower limb amputation, say doctors. “There is a population based survey data that reveals that there are 50 per cent undiagnosed cases of Diabetes. This is why there is a need to do community screening and testing for diabetes. One way to diagnose diabetes cases is to test for it every time a patient walks in with any related symptom to a healthcare facility. This can be done similar to BP and temperature check being done at hospitals and clinics for all the patients, “ says senior diabetologist Dr V Mohan.

He added if there is any symptom of diabetes presented, they can be further evaluated and treated. “The screening programmes are being done in the State but the undiagnosed cases are higher in other parts of the country. We need major public screening camps to detect cases of diabetes at an early stage,” he said.