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World Diabetes Day

Nov 13, 2008 Editorial

Tomorrow, November 14, will be observed worldwide as “World Diabetes Day”. World Diabetes Day is the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes world.

It was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in response to the alarming rise in diabetes around the world.

Last year, the United Nations marked the Day for the first time with the passage of the United Nations World Diabetes Day Resolution in December 2006, which made the existing World Diabetes Day an official United Nations World Health Day.

While the themed campaigns last the whole year, the day itself is celebrated on November 14, to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922.

The facts about diabetes are stark and telling: it currently affects 246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025.

In 2007, the five countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes were India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million), the United States (19.2 million), Russia (9.6 million) and Germany (7.4 million).

Each year a further seven million people develop diabetes and 3.8 million deaths are attributable to the disease.

Health Minister, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, said in 2007 that there are eight thousand new cases of diabetes each year and 400 deaths from the disease annually.

With the evident predisposition of Indians to develop the disease, the actual number of sufferers may be far greater than the official number of 30,000.

Most of these persons suffer from Type 2 diabetes, which afflicts adults. The hallmark of Type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance: insulin is present but cannot be used effectively.

This is mainly because of the excess fat present in the body especially in the abdomen. Type 2 diabetes is managed by use of drugs, diet, exercise and weight loss.

But lately, a large number of children are also rapidly developing Type 2 diabetes due to rise in obesity, which is synonymous to an unhealthy lifestyle.

Asian countries especially bear the brunt. In Japan, for example, Type 2 diabetes in children has doubled in the last 20 years. Last year and this year, the theme of World Diabetes Day is “Diabetes in Children and Adolescents”.

While not appreciated in Guyana, diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood and is labelled Type 1 as opposed to Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease that cannot be prevented.

It is growing by three per cent per year in children and adolescents, and at an alarming five per cent per year among pre-school children. It is estimated that 70,000 children under 15 develop type 1 diabetes each year (almost 200 children a day).

Currently, an estimated 440,000 children live with Type 1 diabetes globally and last year, Dr. Ramsammy announced that there were at least one hundred seventy cases in Guyana.

It is quite possible that many children with Type 1 diabetes, who can be as young as five, are not correctly diagnosed and simply go into seizures and die.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Although Type 1 diabetes can develop at any age, it typically appears during childhood or adolescence.

Type I diabetes was once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. Anyone with Type 1 diabetes needs insulin therapy to survive. This can mean insulin injections or the use of an insulin pump, which automatically dispenses insulin.

A pump is the size of a cell phone and is worn outside the body. It’s connected by a tube to an insulin reservoir under the skin in the abdomen. We do not believe that the insulin pump is available in Guyana.

Treatment for Type 1 diabetes requires a life-long commitment to monitoring blood sugar, taking insulin, maintaining a healthy weight, eating healthy foods and exercising regularly.

The goal is to keep blood sugar levels as close to normal because tight control can reduce the risk of diabetes-related heart attacks and strokes by more than 50 percent.

Type 1 diabetes in children presents special challenges for parents and children alike but with proper treatment, children with Type 1 diabetes can live long, healthy lives.

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