More and more people are diagnosed with diabetes, says local doctor

November marks National Diabetes Month and as such, the Randfontein Herald decided to shine the spotlight on diabetes as an illness and unpack what it is like living with the disease.

Dr Glory Francis from Lenmed Randfontein Private Hospital’s emergency department and the Randfontein Medical Centre explained that diabetes is a disease in which one’s blood sugar is raised which is caused by insulin resistance and damaged insulin secretion.

“The most important and earliest sign is raised glucose [sugar] and that is why it is important to follow up at your local GP for regular checkups. The main way to diagnose diabetes is by doing a HBAIC test, which essentially measures the average sugar in your blood over three months.

“If the HBAIC is higher than 6.5% then that means you have diabetes. If it is between 5.7% to 6.4% then you are pre-diabetic, which means you are at higher risk of developing diabetes soon. Other tests that can be done is an oral glucose tolerance test as well as a fasting glucose test,” said Francis.

She added that diabetes is a lifelong and chronic disease, so one will need to get treatment for the rest of their life.

According to her, diabetes is also called a lifestyle disease, and as a result, a person’s lifestyle will have to change once diagnosed and will have to include a diet that will be low in sugar, a lean meat diet, and exercise is strongly recommended.

“The person will also need to take medication daily and for some, several times a day. They will need to do regular checkups to monitor their HBAIC, and kidney function as well as things like their eyesight and wounds on their feet. Early screening is of great importance as it can show whether you are pre-diabetic, which is a warning for you to change your lifestyle,” said Francis.

According to her, the prevalence of diabetes has increased in the last 10 years and the communities with the highest prevalence are the Indian, white and coloured communities.

She added that some risk factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a sedentary lifestyle, being obese or overweight, and having diabetes in pregnancy, as well as having a family history of diabetes. She also clarified the different types of diabetes, including the one that affects children and young adults.

“There are different types of diabetes. Type one diabetes usually affects children and young adults and they are completely dependent on insulin. Type two diabetes usually affects adults who have a sedentary lifestyle, and this group is usually not dependent on insulin. As in adults, there are two types of diabetes in children as well and that is type one and type two. Type one is most common and more than half of children diagnosed will have type one diabetes. Most cases present between the ages of four to six and 10 to 14 and there has been an increase in cases of type two diabetes as a result of obesity in children.

“Most children will present in a diabetic coma and then will be diagnosed with diabetes,” said Francis.

She added that the symptoms to look out for are loss of weight, blurry vision, as well as vomiting and nausea. Other symptoms such as urinating frequently, feeling very thirsty, and passing a large amount of urine may be a sign to get tested. These symptoms are what to look out for in both adults and children.

According to her, preventative measures in adults include losing weight and cutting down on alcohol and smoking.