I am now a senior citizen, and from childhood, I have heard that diabetes is a disease that silently harms a person because my father was an MBBS from Calcutta Medical College. Anyway, at the grace of Almighty God, to date, diabetes has not affected me. I am not proudly mentioning this but only highlighting it in my case. Regularly, I eat one piece of fish, lots of vegetables and fruits, and drink plenty of water 93-4 Liters). I think moderate alcohol is not bad for health. But every month, two times I do stomach wash, i.e., drink a huge quantity of lukewarm water in the morning on an empty stomach and then bring it out through my mouth, which from 1977. I am reiterating two times in a month I do. It is pertinent to mention that Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease that causes high blood sugar because the bodies of many either don’t make enough insulin or can’t effectively use the insulin it makes.
Anyway, a few issues about diabetes are being presented here as every year on 14 November, World Diabetes Day (WDD) is observed mainly to create awareness in this regard (worlddiabetesday.org/about). World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat of diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nations Resolution 61/225. It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is an umbrella organization 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.
WDD is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign, reaching a global audience of over one billion people in more than 160 countries. The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to do the following:
· Platform to promote IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year.
· Global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.
The campaign is represented by a blue circle logo adopted in 2007 after the passage of the UN Resolution on diabetes. The blue circle is the global symbol for diabetes awareness. It signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes epidemic.
Every year, the World Diabetes Day campaign focuses on a dedicated theme that runs for one or more years. The theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is Access to Diabetes Care(worlddiabetesday.org/about). Now, I am presenting a few facts about diabetes collected from the website, diabetesatlas.org.
Diabetes around the world in 2021:
a) 537 million adults (20-79 years) are living with diabetes - 1 in 10. This number is predicted to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
b) Over 3 in 4 adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries.
c) Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2021 - 1 every 5 seconds.
d) Diabetes caused at least USD 966 billion dollars in health expenditure – a 316% increase over the last 15 years.
e) 541 million adults have Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT), which places them at high risk of type 2 diabetes.
Before conclusion, I wish to mention that in order to keep blood sugar levels steady, better to eat small meals throughout the day. The following foods should be consumed more, as per the website healthline.com/health/diabetes#diet.
a) fruits
b) vegetables
c)whole grains
d) lean protein such as poultry and fish
e) healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts
Charles Best and Frederick Banting who discovered Insulin
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