predicament of the diabetic patients

            Diabetic is just a “disorder and not a disease” –say the doctors

 India has achieved a pride of place as “the diabetic capital of the world ‘with 50.8million diabetic patients followed by china with 42.3million and the USA with 26.8million, according to new figures released by the International Diabetic Foundation. What an achievement?

According to the medical fraternity ‚ diabetes is not the “disease” at all. It is a "symptom" – an outward "signal" – or a “disorder” created by the damaged pancreas that simply is too damaged to produce the insulin your body needs to regulate the levels of sugar in your blood. Even the doctors acknowledge that they have no idea, what causes diabetes and   they don't know how to cure it but there is always a prescription for some drugs any way. Our common sense asks, why would you take drugs if there is no cure for a disease or disorder? The doctors warn of severe consequences if a right balance in this disorder is not restored and such a balance is possible only if we learn to mange diabetic, with total control over diet, medicine, exercise and mental stress.

 The Indian diabetic patients are the proud members of a club which has the maximum membership in the world . Once they are pushed into its membership, they should learn that “just a disorder “description given by the doctors should not be taken lightly as it is made to appear. They should understand every aspect of this disorder.  

Dr. Young who is an American microbiologist and nutrition scientist and known as one of the top research scientists in the world explained that “The pancreas is a vital organ in our body near the stomach. Its main job is to produce the hormone, insulin. Within your pancreas there are cells called Beta Cells that produce insulin. Normally, these cells produce insulin continuously, raising their output in response to the increase in blood sugar that occurs after you eat. When we ingest all the poisonous foods which cause the blood to turn acidic, these Beta Cells are unable to do their job correctly. Obviously, with heavy demand on your Beta Cells from the acid in your system, your pancreas cannot function properly. Diabetes comes to life. Note that the cells in your pancreas are over acidic because of the food you eat and that is the reason , we are told that diet is one of the major influences on your Diabetes condition,. Because "We are what we eat”. Once you “cleanse” the pancreas from the overflow of acids‚ it starts to rebuild the beta cells to their only natural function, the production of insulin. Once you focus on the ‘Root Cause’ of your Diabetes — you instantly start seeing Diabetes from a different perspective — instead of "Medication" and "fighting the symptoms," you start thinking about "Health" and treating the cause.”

When we try to understand this “Dis order,” we learn that it is more important to pay attention to what you eat, than to deal with the symptoms that drugs can fight from the outside, because “prescription drugs only mask symptoms. They do not cure. Actually they exacerbate the problem as they weaken your immune system. What is meant to help you out only make matters worse? We learn that the medicines help only to control blood sugar artificially and do nothing to control the decease because, these medications cause other health problems. The doctor ends up prescribing more drugs to control those new symptoms which cause yet further side effects and render your original medications less effective, so your doctor doubles or quadruples your original dosages and this vicious cycle just goes on and on. In the end what awaits you is an implicit death sentence of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure debilitating nerve damage (neuropathy) blindness, impotence, amputations and many other grim diabetes complications .Quite scary, isn’t it? Yet it is described as only a “disorder.” The solution to all of this is to get back into your natural state of vibrant health by "cleansing" yourself from the inside, allowing your body to get rid of the acids that are taxing your cells, to enable them to start functioning properly again. Is it as simple as that?

Just observe what happens, as soon as soon as a person is diagnosed with diabetic “disorder.” The first thing he /she do is to call all the near and dear ones and share their fears of this “disorder. The next things they do is , to   browse the internet, read all the medical articles that appear periodically in the print media and listen to doctor’s discussions in the electronic media to get maximum knowledge on this problem. They get panicky after reading about the nexus between the doctors and pharmaceutical companies and the effects of too many medicines and end up doubting the doctors and the specialty hospitals. Then they start seeking advice from   the senior club members regarding the right food since they go mad with the list of forbidden food items which the dieticians give. In fact this disorder has entered into every family and hence when two family friends meet, next to weather, diabetic diet is the subject of discussion.  .Due to endless diabetic gossip on what to eat and what not to eat, they get into the trap of fear psychosis and avoid most of the food items, and become physically week and the energy level drops, leading to other complications. The patients think it is the dieticians who confuse them to the maximum extent regarding the right diet pattern. But in reality they have a tough job. The diet differs from person to person according to their age, body constitution, digestive capacity, level of blood sugar and their life style. They have to answer hundreds of queries of the patients patiently. The patients get out of the hospital with frustration with all the food restrictions. Most of the nice and tasty items of food which we have been relishing so far are banned for ever. The dieticians constantly din into our ears about the need to take  raw vegetables, greens, sprouts and sundals  making us to doubt , whether we have become members of the  animal kingdom. Even most of the fruits created by God for humanity and even the innocent looking biscuits are forbidden for ever. It is so difficult to manage the diabetic’s diet because, the quantity,   the calorie, the protein, the carbohydrate , the fat, fibers and   the sugar contents of our food  are to be constantly monitored . The next thing is to take care of the exercise part. It requires tremendous will power to get into the routine exercise regime. The easiest part is swallowing the medicines. We do not mind taking one dozens medicines than agreeing to take insulin injection, even when the doctors try to educate its benefits. Somehow self poking everyday is anathema to many patients and they are afraid the number of times insulin has to injected might increase in course of time.

When we visit a specialty diabetic center, our sprits get boosted up since the diabetic club members see hundreds of fellow members waiting in the queue( to shell out thousands of rupees.) They don’t have to worry about their stay there for 4 to 6 hours since all the facilities required for them is available less than one roof. The atmosphere is high tech and their confidence level rises as they see posters every where announcing very grandly that “diabetic is only a disorder and not a decease.” Their comfort level in becoming a member of the diabetic club of India   becomes higher when they see even children and youth as fellow members. The awareness lecture given there explains that, “Just as the four legs of a chair help in keeping the chair firmly on the ground, balance between diet, medicine exercise and emotional balance are to be maintained if diabetic disorder should not create any problem.” Easily said than done! Is it that easy to live without any stress? When we have to consume so many medicines and worry about their side effects, the need to have regular self check and the growing medical expenditure, is it possible to live stress free? Diabetic management itself is very stressful. Even the simple events of life such as the absence of a servant, frequent power failure, daily news on corruption create stress in our mind.  In short, it looks as though our 24x7 hours job is to monitor our health status and life can not be lived in a care free and light hearted manner. The senior citizens have another worry. Most of them are dependent seniors and they shudder to think of the burden they will impose on their near and dear ones if they become members of this club. Is it not high time for the medical fraternity to call the diabetic as a “decease” than a “disorder ‘so that the finance ministry will consider taking this problem seriously and give tax rebate for diabetic care expenditure of senior citizens  at least ?

 The worst situations are experienced during marriages and other functions. The dining hall is filled with aroma of mouth watering dishes. The “disorder “club members have to omit all the tasty items like sweets, dishes mixed with coconut, ice-cream, fruits and the chutneys. The non members can never imagine the misery of drinking tea, coffee and milk with out sugar. In short everything in life which we have enjoyed so far is to be sacrificed forever.  Is there any meaning in life in living for a long time with these regimented restrictions? Now, a question arises in our mind i.e., prolonged life with diabetes is a boon or bane?

Wanting to strike a positive note after a narrating a negative note on “diabetic disorder” this author wants to list out the benefits of becoming a member of the diabetic club. Each member of this club becomes  health conscious ,  do periodic  medical check up,  consume the  right food  in the right quantity and in the right time, do  regular exercise and thereby are likely to prevent so many other serious health problems. But the non members remain happily free from these ordeals, enjoy their food without any restriction and remain free from regular exercise and thus are exposed to major health risks and medical emergencies. The prestigious club members tend to become philosophical too and accept the situation “of eating to live than living to eat” Finally, they turn religious too, because every time they enter a diabetic specialty hospital, they have to compulsorily pray for two things viz., for protection from enhanced charges for the various tests and   for the test result of below 5.6% HbA1c which is the true index of the average blood glucose control over previous 2-3months.