PREGNANT WOMEN’S - Diabetes

PREGNANT WOMENS

OVER 12% ARE DIABETIC

Awareness and regular checks are the best way to prevent diabetes, widely prevalent in India, according to senior medical practitioners who attended a panel discussion to mark World Diabetes Day in the major cities.

“It is difficult to detect at the early stages.

The best prevention is awareness about the disease”, said an experts, Cardiac Care Center, Sri Ramachandra University, at the programmers on ‘Prevention of Diabetes and its complications’ organized by a Diabetes Center.

Senior medical practitioners said that the number of women who are diabetic during pregnancy seemed to have gone up in the world.

“Around 12% - 15% of pregnant women are diabetic now compared to the 2% several years ago,” To a large extent, lifestyle changes account for the increased occurrences of the disease. “The best way to prevent diabetes is to put women on vitamin B12 and folic acid the moment pregnancy is planned” experts says.

Leading practitioners also recounted how a patient told to used to eat a block of ice cream everyday instead of eating healthy food during pregnancy. “This should be avoided as it increases the risk of diabetes”, their warned.

The average weight of pregnant women has also gone up over the years, “Earlier, their weight varied between 55 to 60kg while pregnant women now weigh anywhere between 75 to 90kg. A baby exposed to excess calories will suffer health problems later in life,” their added.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Medical Services, launched diabetes self care kit that includes among other things a blood glucose monitoring meter, body fat analyzer, BP monitor and a pedometer.