Poor lifestyle choices make youth susceptible to diabetes, say docs

Residents as young as 24 years old have been detected with the disease

NAVI MUMBAI: The increased intake of junk food and sedentary lifestyles has led to a rise in the number of young diabetes patients in the city, said doctors.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) while 347 million people from across the world have diabetes, India has been termed as the world capital for the disease. What is even more disturbing is that many youngsters have either already developed diabetes or are extremely susceptible to the deadly disease, city doctors said.

The reasons are no different from those leading to other common diseases. Poor lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking at an early age and the lack of physical exercise are to blame yet again, doctors said. Also known as the silent killer as not many people are aware that they have the disease, it is very important to prevent diabetes from an early age.

“With the sedentary work life and resulting obesity, cases of type-2 diabetes are on the rise. While earlier people above 35 would get the disease, now both men and women as young as 24-25 years are also suffering from diabetes,” said Dr Rahul Gupta, consultant cardiologist, Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi.

Type- 2 diabetes, which was once called non-insulin depend- ent diabetes, can occur at any age and in fact, it stands the risk of remaining undetected for years. The diagnosis is made only when a complication appears or during a routine blood or urine glucose test, and very often it is too late for damage control.

In response to the growing concerns about diabetes, the World Diabetes Day is celebrated on November 14. For the period between 2009 and 2013, the theme for this day has been Diabetes Education and Prevention.

In order to spread the aware- ness, Sai Snehdeep Hospital has organised an awareness walk on November 14. The will help give residents information about the prevention and cure of diabetes. It will start from D’mart at 8:30am, and will terminate at the hospital on the Vashi-Ghansoli Link Road.