60 diabetic cases detected in persons under 25 in past few months
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 21 2013: At least 60 diabetic cases including congenital ones have been detected during the past few months in persons below 25 years of age.

This startling discovery was made in the course of investigation carried out under the Young Diabetic Project with RIMS, Department of Medicine Professor Dr Th Premchand as principal investigator.

Apart from being principal investigator of the project, Dr Premchand is also in-charge of endocrine clinic opened at RIMS.

Dr Premchand, during an exclusive chat with The Sangai Express, said that 38 diabetic cases were detected in Imphal East and Imphal West.

Other valley districts accounted for 21 cases while the remaining one diabetic case was detected in Churachandpur district.

Saying that rate of diabetes infection is much lower in hill districts, Dr Premchand said it is not a cause for much worry even though the diabetic cases were detected among young people.

With the progress in medical technology and science of medicine, many new and more effective drugs have been invented.

If one takes drugs and does physical exercise regularly, one need not worry about being a diabetic patient.

Among the 60 people suffering from diabetes, one is a child below five years.

Her case is congenital but not hereditary for her parents do not suffer from diabetes.

This type of congenital diabetes is known as gestational diabetes mellitus.

Although gestational diabetes mellitus is congenital, it is curable after birth.

A child being infected by diabetes even though both the parents are not suffering from diabetes is a very rare case and it is caused by genetic defect, said Dr Premchand.

The Government of Manipur conducted a survey in 1994-95 to find out the total number of diabetic cases/patients living in the State.

The survey showed that four per cent of the State's total population were suffering from diabetes.

But today, it is being speculated that 10 per cent of the total population are suffering from diabetes.

On account of the changing environment across the planet, inheritance and as a result of the changing quality of daily food items, diabetic cases have been growing.

In short, hereditary factor and environment factor are responsible for the growth in diabetic cases, Dr Premchand said.

Some decades back, each and every locality had playgrounds and ample space for games and physical exercise, and people used to take many varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables which could be consumed in raw form.

But nowadays, playgrounds are vanishing fast and it has now become a privilege if people have space for playing games or indulge in physical exercise.

Moreover, food habit has also changed a lot in the past few decades.

People are now eating foods which have higher carbohydrate contents.

At the same time, young children have no time for games in their pursuit for formal education and academic excellence.

Instead of playing an outdoor game, children are either playing video games indoor or watching television whenever they get any free time.

All these habits and mode of living is responsible for young children getting infected with diabetes, Dr Premchand elucidated.

Diabetic cases are much lower in hill areas.

Kabuis living in Tamenglong do not suffer from diabetes but many Kabuis living in Imphal have been infected by the disease.

In the international context, China ranks first in terms of having the highest number of population infected by diabetes.

India ranks second and it is being estimated that India would take over China by 2025, Dr Premchand further said.

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