Ludhiana, January 17
Diabetes is the single most lethal, yet common disease, affecting millions in the country and the number of affected persons was rising at an alarming rate which will lead to an enormous economic burden on the families, society and the nation.
These observations were made by Dr Parminder Singh, chief of endocrinology at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, while interacting with patients and health workers at a seminar on diabetes, organised by Punarjot Eye Bank of Punjab, in collaboration with Lions Club Ludhiana Skipper, at Sehjad Hospital on Sunday.
He said the ‘sweet poison’ had affected nearly 2 crore persons in India in 1994 and the number had shot up to 3.5 crore in the year 2000. It was expected that by 2010, there would be around 5.5 crore Indians suffering from diabetes. “Not only that, the disease makes the lives of diabetics miserable, it is the breeding ground for many other serious health problems like cardiac disease, irreversible blindness, gangrene and amputation of limbs, frequent hospitalisation and renal failure.
Dr Parminder Singh stressed the need for bringing about an improvement in management of diabetic patients with special focus on high-risk factors like nutrition, food habits and smoking.
Later, at a free medical camp, a team of doctors examined more than 400 patients. The patients were provided the facility of free clinical tests, ECGs and free medicines.
Dr Ramesh, director of Punarjot Eye Bank of Punjab, spoke about the importance of eye donation as a means to restore the eyesight of corneal blind persons. Mr H.K. Ahuja, president of the Lions Club, assured of complete cooperation of the organisation for holding medical camps and promoting eye care and eye donations.
