Virtual Series of National Talks : Diabetes
Date : 25th May 2021 - Fit India Club, Manipur University

As a part of Fit India Movement, the Fit India Campaign Committee and Fit India Club, Manipur University have been conducting various activities with MAMI TV as media partner. As a part of it, Virtual Series of National Talks has been initiated during this Covid-19 Second Wave Pandemic.

As the first Virtual National Talks, today a lecture has been given by Dr. Rupam Choudhury, Diabetologist & Metabolic Physician, Apollo Clinic, Guwahati, Assam on the topic “Diabetes – Its Complications & Management during Pandemic”.

The first Virtual Series of National Talk has been conducted with Dr. Laishram Santosh Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences as Convenor, Prof. N. Mohilal Meitei, Head, Department of Zoology, M.U. as Moderator and Ms. T. Deepamanjuri Devi, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, M.U. as Co-Moderator.

Dr. L. Santosh Singh, convenor, FICC and FIC, MU, Canchipur welcomed all the panellists, resource person and participants from Manipur and other states like Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Maharashtra, Delhi and Hyderabad. Ms. T. Deepamanjuri Devi, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, M.U., Co-Moderator of the Talk programme has introduced the speaker of today’s programme, Dr. Rupam Choudhury and thereafter the programme has been conducted by Prof. N. Mohilal Meitei, Moderator of the Virtual National Talks of the day.

At the very outset, Dr. Rupam Choudhury, speaker of the day mentioned that like Covid-19, Diabetes itself is a pandemic. He started the presentation with the presentation of the data regarding number of adults with diabetes worldwide as well as prevalence of diabetes mellitus in rural and urban population in India. He has shared that diabetes is no longer a disease of only the older adults, but it is present among the younger age also. He is also of the observation that in these modern days, there are 1 or 2 diabetes in every family.

Diabetes prevalence is much higher in the urban areas than the rural areas. IDF estimates that there are 72.9 million people with diabetes in India in 2017 with almost 35.5 million people in India with diabetes being unaware of their diabetic status. He has explained about various types of Diabetes, causes, signs and symptoms and complications. He has observed that 90% of people with Type 2 Diabetes are overweight or obese. Dr. Rupam Choudhury has also discussed about Black Fungus and mentioned that it occurs in approximately 50% of the cases in individuals with Diabetes Mellitus.

With special regards to the present Pandemic of Covid-19, he has expressed that diabetes reduces the immune response. So, people with DM should take maximum care. A Diabetic individual should take the Covid vaccine but before vaccination, sugar level should be controlled. Both the available vaccines – Covaxin and Covishield can be taken. If a Diabetic individual get infected with Covid-19, in order to control sugar level, Insulin should be given instead of oral sugar controlling tablets.

It has been advised to check the sugar level 6 times a day – before and after Breakfast, before and after Lunch and before and after Dinner or can be done in three days time with first day checking before and after Breakfast and so on. Even after recovery from Covid-19, diabetes may face severe weakness for 1-2 months. Too much intake of carbohydrates in our food should be reduced. Diet, exercise, inner transformation and medical supports are the success mantra for diabetes. Minimum 30 minutes of moderate exercise for 5 days a week can keep your diabetes under control.

The first Virtual Series of National Talks has been concluded with question-answer session and vote of thanks from Dr. Laishram Santosh Singh, Convenor. He also requested all the participants to take part in the next session to be held on 28th May, 2021 at 11am.

(Dr. L. Santosh Singh)
Convenor
Fit India Campaign Committee
&
Fit India Club
Manipur University
(A Central University)
Canchipur, Imphal – 795003