It pays to keep diabetes under control

Type 2 diabetics who regularly monitor their blood glucose have a significantly lower morbidity and mortality rate than those who don't, according to a recent study.

Both local and international experts have been harping on this, and it has now been scientifically demonstrated for the first time in an epidemiological cohort analysis conducted in Germany and sponsored by Roche Diagnostics.

As a result of diabetics' disregard to their condition, someone somewhere in the world loses a leg to diabetes every 30 seconds, and if they continue to ignore diabetes, they would face the risk of losing their feet or their eyesight.

In Malta, diabetes robbed 84 people of their leg in 2004, a figure that could have been slashed by half if those suffering from this condition had taken the necessary preventive measures.

With this in mind, Vivian Corporation Ltd has embarked on an educational campaign that will run into next year to celebrate its 50-year partnership with Roche Diagnostics, the global market leader for in vitro diagnostics.

The celebrations culminate today with meetings with top diabetologists and health professionals to highlight the message that with proper care a diabetic can lead a more "normal" life.

Corporation director Joanna Cremona said that next year the company planned to be very active in schools to raise the level of awareness on diabetes.

This year, the Maltese Diabetes Association highlighted the fact that young diabetics were being marginalised due to the way their condition was dealt with by school authorities.

The corporation would also be meeting the police who come into contact with insulin-dependant teenagers who may be carrying syringes and are wrongly assumed to be drug addicts.

According to the World Health Organisation, the local prevalence of diabetes stood at 39,000 in 2000, but it is likely to shoot up to 57,000 by 2030.

In Malta diabetes affects about 10 per cent of adults, but the numbers increase drastically as a person grows older and as many as one in three elderly people suffer from diabetes.

Diabetes is currently an incurable condition in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.

The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

The worst thing is that 50 per cent of all people with diabetes are unaware of their condition, so the advice is to go for a check up if you are experiencing strange symptoms or the condition runs in the family.