Chennai
A month ago, when 26-year-old Ajay Ashok, a professional working with a reputed MNC, went in for his pre-employment medical examination at a reputed hospital in the city, he was shocked to learn from his medical reports that he was pre-diabetic. Doctors say that Ajay is one among those in the age group of 25-30 years at the risk of diabetes, as revealed by the study conducted by S10 Health, an e-commerce healthcare organisation. The sample size comprised about 1,500 professionals that included 1,200 men and 300 women.
Youngsters at higher risk
Observing the findings of the study, Dr. Dobson Dominic, medical director, S10 Health Sports Lounge, said that there were a significant number of people among those surveyed, including young working professionals, who were at the risk of getting diabetes (where the blood glucose level is 100-125mg/dl). He added that change in dietary patterns because of urbanisation and economic growth had resulted in people eating outside more often, and increased consumption of high energy dense foods, even in younger age groups between 20 -30 years of age.
“Dietary patterns of the sample population included people being prone to diabetes due to high caloric intake, high consumption of refined cereals and carbohydrates and a diet high in simple sugars due to increased intake of coffee and tea,” he added. Dr. Dobson also pointed out that other reasons include eating junk food, eating late when the body’s metabolic process was slow and drinking excess caffeine (coffee and tea), resulting in insulin resistance, which was usually higher in night shift employees.
Non-conventional causes
While doctors say that a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise coupled with stress are known causes of diabetes, they add that a number of studies in recent times have highlighted some non-conventional factors, especially for women. Dr Jayashree Gopal, senior consultant, endocrinologist-diabetologist, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, says that the presence of chemicals in food triggers hormonal changes. She says,” The chemicals present in colouring agents make the fat stay in the body, leading to hormonal changes that make the body insulin-resistant,” she points out. Similarly, she adds that studies also reveal that women exposed to light in the night stand a greater chance of developing diabetes while” One in five women have gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy). In several cases, there are no conventional risk factors, but they have diabetes.”
Bringing down the age bar
In the 1970s, Chennai had a 2 per cent diabetic population. The number today stands at 24 per cent, says Dr V Mohan, chairman, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre. He adds that earlier those above 50 years were considered to be in the risk-prone age group. “However, today it has come down to 20 years,” he says. “Today, children are glued to gadgets and are put under immense stress in school. These are some major factors that lead to diabetes at a very young age. Here, we are not talking about Type 1 Diabetes that a child as small as 1 year can develop. Type 2 Diabetes at a young age leads to the need for renal transplant or blindness by 30 years.”
Study’s findings
Alter diet and lifestyle
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