DIABETES

Jothydev's Professional Education Forum(JPEF) Annual Global Diabetes Convention 2017 organised by P.Kesavadev Trust and Jothydev’s Diabetes Research Centre had more than 850 delegates participating at the two day convention on August 12,13 at Uday Samudra, Kovalam. Experts from different states of India, as well as, from other countries like Germany, USA and Australia, shared their views on latest developments in the field of diabetes. During the convention, P. Kesavadev Memorial Oration, Dr V C Mathew Roy Memorial Oration, RSSDI Presidential Oration and JPEF Oration were delivered.

As a part of the event, for the first time in the history, an award for young researcher in diabetes was announced: P.Kesavadev JPEF Award for young researcher in diabetes.Dr.Riddhi Das Gupta, Assistant Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore,was presented with P.Kesavadev JPEF Award 2017 for his contributions to the world of diabetes research for his research on Euglycemic-Hyperinsulinemic Pancreatic Clamp based comprehensive metabolic study among Fibrocalcific Pancreatic Diabetes (FCPD) patients.

According to Dr.Satish Garg (Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, University of Colorado, USA), the scientific community is now eagerly looking into newer alternatives to insulin for managing Type 1 diabetes. The conference also shed light on the fact that liver diseases and diabetic foot diseases also seems to be on the rise among diabetes patients than the earlier times. Most of the times, the high frequency of diabetic foot diseases confronted among the patients is due to the lack of proper awareness among the clinicians as well as the patients to identify the disease at its early stages. Another major problem that requires immediate attention among the clinician community is regarding the high incidence of sexual dysfunction among diabetes patients. Unfortunately, according to the recent statistics, only 4% of the doctors take efforts to discuss about sexual dysfunction with their patients. By promoting healthy discussion with the patients this major health concern can be managed to a greater extent.

Asians develop diabetes at a younger age, almost 2 decades earlier than those individuals living in other parts of the world. In addition, Indian Diabetes Prevention study showed that the risk of developing a cardiovascular disease, renal disorders, thyroid disorders, liver and foot diseases is significantly higher among diabetes patients. Therefore a comprehensive approach is required to manage this ever increasing diabetes epidemic. Often it is seen that it is not the lack of proper awareness, but it is the delay in undertaking the appropriate precautionary or treatment measures that often leads to this increase in diabetes prevalence. In fact, even with simple lifestyle changes, almost 30% reduction can be achieved in the risk of developing diabetes. Moderate level of physical activities such as Yoga, Zumba etc. may be adapted.

Experts gathered at the convention also highlighted the importance of early screening among women for any underlying risks towards developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), well before planning a pregnancy. It is suggested that pregnant women with GDM should check their blood sugar levels in every 3 trimesters and appropriate treatment measures may be adopted so as to achieve better glucose goals. Lack of proper control of GDM can bring in devastating consequences in their offsprings in terms of cognitive impairments, behavioural problems, etc. as well as poses as a high-risk factor for developing stroke in the future.

Benefits of practising proper insulin injection techniques was another highly discussed topic. Diabetes patients failing to practice proper insulin injection techniques can end up requiring huge daily doses of insulin, skin irritations, and ultimately treatment failures. It is highly unfortunate to note that more than 40% of the patients are not aware of the proper injection practices and most of the times doctors also seem to put negligible interests towards enforcing the importance of the same among their patients.

The conference also had brain-storming scientific sessions on the latest technological developments in the field of diabetes management. Doctors should advise the patients to make most possible use the latest technologies such as Continous Glucose Monitoring (CGM), Flash Glucose Monitoring (FGM), Insulin Pumps and Artificial Pancreas systems to bring out the best treatment outcomes. Technologies like CGM and FGM allows the doctors to prescribe the most personalised diabetes treatment plan for the patients. The currently available Insulin pumps and the fully closed- loop Artificial Pancreas systems that are on the near horizon would likely bring a ‘cure’ for diabetes in future. The mobile apps for managing diabetes is another breakthrough that can have a profound positive impact on diabetes treatment.