Friday, May 10, 2013

The diabetes patient and the last-minute philosophy !


Five  years ago, I met Mr. Nayar (name changed). A successful person in his career, he had everything going for him except his health. He would work 24 hours a day! He would go sleepless for nights together. And in between, beaten by sheer frustration of work, which even led him to forget his insulin injection, he would indulge in that sweetmeat, or this samosa, with disastrous results. When he came that day, his diabetes was uncontrolled, and how! His fasting blood glucose was 324 mg/dl and the post-meal glucose was 502 mg/dl. In addition, he had all the complications associated with diabetes: nerve damage, eye damage, kidney damage, cardiac disease and hypertension. I saw him as a broken, but not beaten man. After I had explained the exact level of his diabetes control and its complications, he said “ That’s it doctor. I’ve decided to change. I want to live! And I won’t die today or tomorrow- I’ll die another day !”

I smiled, not knowing whether he meant it or not. But from that day, he was a changed man. He would check his sugars with a glucometer 3-4 times per day. He would take four, five or even six insulin injections per day. When I saw him a few months ago, his HbA1c was a majestic 6.2%. His fasting blood sugar was a fantastic 82 mg/dl. And his post-meal glucose was a perfect 123 mg/dl. His kidney disease has recovered completely, and all the other complications have improved dramatically.

 This gentleman exemplifies what I call the last- minute philosophy. He had decided to turn things around for himself at the right time. Even a month’s delay would have pushed him off a precipice and sent him spiraling into the vicious waters that would have led him to further complications of heart disease, kidney failure and blindness. The HbA1c is a 3-monhly measure of glucose control, and a value <6.5% represents excellent control. There are many patients who ascribe to this philosophy. They wait till the last minute to turn things around for themselves. This is certainly not an ideal situation. For, had this gentleman decided on improving his lifestyle and taking his medicines at an earlier date itself, he could have prevented all the diabetic complications. Better than this last-minute philosophy is the “stitch-in-time philosophy”, that is, the approach of following diet, exercise, clinical monitoring and regular medicine intake from the day of diagnosis of  diabetes, so that the onset of diabetic complications may be completely halted.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Endocrinology is a medical specialty which deals in hormone complications such as thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, metabolic bone diseases, lipid disorders, endocrine tumors, growth disorders etc. Find the Best endocrinologist in delhi http://www.helpingdoc.com/endocrinologist-in-delhi

Carol Tracy said...

Thanks for this great post! - This provides good insight.You might also be interested to know more about generating more leads and getting the right intelligence to engage prospects.E-Health Care Listsimplements new lead gen ideas and strategies for generating more leads and targeting the right leads and accounts.E-Health Care Lists is one of the global suppliers of healthcare mailing list & email list. Marketing to the healthcare industry, reaching the doctors and other healthcare decision makers is often an impossible task.Endocrinologist Mailing list & Email list

Unknown said...

Thanks for this great post! -This provides good insight.You might also be interested to know more about generating more leads and getting the right intelligence to engage prospects.pegasimediagroupimplements new lead gen ideas and strategies for generating more leads and targeting the right leads and accounts.Endocrinology email list

Physiotherapy said...

1 in every 10 Australians has type 1 diabetes. Type 1 is usually caused when there is auto-immune destruction of insulin making cell in pancreas. Therefore, no insulin is made in the body. It commonly affects in childhood and people under 30. There is no cure for Type 1. It is managed with insulin injections, exercise and nutrition.
Diabetes Management Clinic in Point cook

Physiotherapy said...

1 in 3 Women who had a baby wet themselves
Incontinence could be urinary incontinence and faecal incontinence. Incontinence is the inability to control micturition resulting in the loss of urine. These dysfunctions are caused by pregnancy & childbirth,poor pelvic floor muscle function,constipation,poor fluid & toileting habits,chronic cough,obesity, strenuous sports, aging & menopause ,neurological conditions like MS and stroke Bladder Disorders / Bladder Dysfunction

Womens Health Clinic in Werribee

giostar said...

Thanks for sharing this information giostar is one of the best stem cell therapy in India. GIOSTAR has a capacity to treat a few destroying Immunological infirmities and Blood related infections. These unite Diabetes Type I and Type II, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's burden, Vasculitis, Scleroderma, Myasthenia Gravis, Sickle Cell Anemia, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Thalassemia and building up the treatments for Alzheimer's, Autism, Anti-Aging Treatments, Parkinson's infection, Cancer, Heart and Retinal Degeneration, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Neuropathy, Osteoarthritis, Paralysis, Strokes, Spinal Cord Injuries, Skin Burns and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). best stem cell therapy in india Leukemia Treatment in India Best Diabetes Hospitals in India

Thyroid Treatment said...

Thanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will keep sharing such a useful information. Please keep sharing!

Best Endocrinologist in Thane

Nikita Behl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nikita Behl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.