IDF Chairperson amplifies nexus between UTI and diabetes

Jan 16, 2018 News

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Burning or pain together with a noticeable difference in the colour and smell of the urine could suggest that you have a Urinary Tract Infection [UTI]. But what some people may not know is that the presence of a UTI could in fact be as a result of diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease in which an individual’s blood glucose or blood sugar levels are too high.

Since many cases of UTIs have been linked to diabetes, it is imperative that health workers offer, as far as possible, a blood sugar test to persons seeking medical attention.

“When you go to a health centre or hospital that should be your number one test…you might go in with belly pain or something else, but one of the first tests should be done is a blood sugar test,” insists President of the Guyana Diabetic Association, Ms. Glynis Beaton.

“It should just happen automatically. Regardless of what you go in for, you should never come out without a blood sugar test. Once a woman goes in with a UTI, every effort should be made to determine why…Yes, it could be something else, but one of the biggest infections for diabetics is UTI, and you could be diagnosed right there and then with high blood sugar, and other tests can follow,” said Beaton.

She continued, “That is a checkpoint right there…if the blood sugar level is out of whack, you can start dealing with it right there.”

According to reports, predisposition to UTIs in diabetes can result from several factors. These can include longer duration and greater severity of diabetes and high urine glucose content and defective host immune factors.

Beaton noted that while a medical check-up, at least once yearly, is important, to rule out the present of diseases on a whole in your anatomy, that medical examination will be very incomplete without a blood sugar test.

Moreover, Beaton, a diabetic herself, has not only been standing in the gap as a key player against diabetes on a national level, but since last year, she has been holding another title which gives her an international platform to advance her advocacy.

Beaton is the first Guyanese to take up the prestigious title of Chairperson for the International Diabetes Federation [IDF].

The IDF is an umbrella organisation of over 230 national diabetes associations in 170 countries and territories. It represents the interests of the growing number of people with diabetes and those at risk. The Federation has been leading the global diabetes community since 1950.

During her biennial term as Chairperson, Beaton intends to advance an awareness drive that is not only focused on the state of diabetes in Guyana, but on the international scene as well, since she is tasked with representing the North America/Caribbean Region and Mexico.

Part of her efforts will be to promote the importance of blood sugar testing.  This is in light of her belief that “doing a blood test should not be optional. Go and do your check up! You can do your full lipid, your triglyceride, your cholesterol, and of course they will do an HbA1c check to ensure that you are not diabetic and you are not suffering unknowingly.”

According to Beaton, while efforts will be made to amplify measures to prevent Type Two Diabetes as far as possible, moves will also be made during her tenure to better understand why there is an increase in the number of Type One Diabetes cases.

Type Two Diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. It occurs when an individual’s blood sugar is too high. Type One Diabetes on the other hand is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.

While the circumstances leading to Type Two Diabetes are clear, Beaton said that “we will be doing more to understand why we seem to be getting an increase in the Type One cases…we will be doing more [through the Young Leaders in Diabetes – the Youth Arm of the Guyana Diabetic Association at the local level]. We need to find out things such as if the mother had gestational diabetes or whether there is a family history.”

Added to this, Beaton said that efforts will be made to give close attention to what is believed to be the newest type of diabetes – pancreatic diabetes. This form of diabetes caused by pancreatic exocrine disease is said to be a unique, clinical and metabolic form of the disease. According to one report, “the diagnosis of pancreatic diabetes caused by chronic pancreatitis may be elusive because it is occasionally painless and often not accompanied by clinical mal-absorption until after hyperglycemia occurs.”

Hyperglycemia is an abnormally high blood sugar level and is a hallmark sign of diabetes and pre-diabetes. The main symptoms of hyperglycemia are increased thirst and a frequent need to urinate.

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