TWO WEEKENDS IN JANUARY

 As an ophthalmologist and retina specialist, my professional meetings center around strategies for tackling preventable blindness. This month there was an excellent meet organised by the Pune Ophthalmologists Society on tackling blindness due to diabetes. Diabetes is unfortunately becoming a major public health problem among the Non Communicable Diseases. It can cause significant cardiovascular, neurological and eye problems.

 

We do see a rising number of young patients who go blind due to diabetes because it does not give any warning signs in the eye. Statistics say that the burden of blindness due to diabetes may be so high that Healthcare systems might be insufficient to treat all patients and might actually collapse.

 

A week later, at the Mumbai Marathon (which has become a ritual!) I paced my good friend Manoj Joshi in the final hours of his full marathon (42.2kms). The reason I write this is because Manoj himself is a Diabetic. But he was not helpless. At 40+ years of age he decided to take up running as a sport. His diet, exercise regimen and discipline are spot on. From being an overweight smoker and uncontrolled diabetic, he now boasts of completing international marathons and ultra runs and is actually completely off his diabetic meds now!

 

In my practice I do get a lot of patients who say "please suggest me a good doctor who can control my sugars"! Well there are no magicians or magic pills for that. Type 2 diabetes is widely recognised as a lifestyle disease which is fuelled by poor food habits, lack of exercise and obesity. Not everyone needs to run a marathon, but just changing meds and doctors isn't going to help either! Manoj, if I had a inspiration medal to give it'd be coming your way😃