Glucose-level test helps diabetics to live without limits
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Suffering from diabetes does not have to mean the end of the world. These days, diabetics can live without having any limits, just like other healthy people. They only need to exercise self- discipline and regularly check their glucose levels.
In the past, doctors were quick to prescribe a strict and conservative diet for diabetics. These diets would make one feel that the world was tasteless and their life was unhip. Diabetics could not consume coffee, tea, ice cream, candies or durian, not to mention other tempting treats.
"Many people have asked me about tips for diabetics. All I can say is that diabetics can eat anything they want as long as it is controlled and in moderation," said Sidartawan Soegondo, an endocrinologist and diabetes consultant.
Diabetes is a hormone disorder that is closely related to lifestyles and self-control. Apart from diabetes striking a person early in life, diabetes can develop in people with an unhealthy lifestyle, which includes consuming too much junk food or not getting enough exercise. Both factors jack up one's glucose level.
Nongenetic diabetes usually occurs in people over the age of 40. But younger obese people are also suffering from diabetes and this trend is increasing due to their unhealthy lifestyles.
According to Australia's International Diabetes Institute, more than 180 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with diabetes. In Asia, more than 84 million people are diabetics, and that number is believed to double in the next two decades.
In Indonesia in 2000, there were 5.6 million diabetics.
What's worse is that there are only 40 doctors specializing in endocrinology and diabetes in this country.
"There's a ratio imbalance of one doctor serving 140,000 patients here. Therefore, I always support the idea that diabetics are subjects of the disease and they actually can control their condition," Sidartawan said.
What diabetics should keep in mind is that they carefully control their glucose level to avoid further complications.
Diabetes can cause further problems to their kidneys, legs and feet, eyes, heart, nerves and blood flow. If left untreated, these problems can lead to kidney failure, gangrene and amputation, blindness or stroke.
Although this is not their first product, LifeScan, a company under Johnson & Johnson, is introducing OneTouch Ultra, a self- monitoring glucose level system to help diabetics broaden their horizons and enjoy life without having any limits to it, just as healthy people can.
"We want to change the paradigm of diabetics so that they too can enjoy their lives. Of course, they must control their own glucose level," the director of PT Johnson & Johnson Indonesia, Ratrelis V. Canny, told a media gathering on Monday.
Meanwhile, LifeScan marketing and director for ASEAN and Pakistan Corine Ooi Bremer said glucose monitors would help diabetics control their lives.
"They can regularly check their glucose level. People don't have to go to a laboratory and wait for hours to know their glucose level," she said.
The glucose monitor, which can fit into an adult's palm, can be used to complement one's diet or clinical treatment. Its superiority lies in the fact that it is light, compact and quick, taking only five seconds to give the results.
"OneTouch Ultra only needs one microliter of a blood sample to be put in the capillary tip. In five seconds, the result will appear," Bremer said.
The glucose monitor is sold in Indonesia for Rp 1.125 million (US$102.00) and is available at leading drugstores.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes -- also known as insulin-dependent or immune- mediated diabetes -- is a disease that destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce the hormone insulin.
The symptoms are: High levels of sugar in the blood, high levels of sugar in the urine, frequent urination (and/or bed-wetting in children), extreme hunger, extreme thirst, extreme weight loss, weakness and tiredness, irritability and mood swings, nausea and vomiting
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes or non-insulin dependent diabetes is the most common form of the disease. It usually occurs in people who are over 40 years old and overweight.
What are the symptoms?
Type 2 diabetes often develops slowly. Most people who get it have increased thirst and an increased need to urinate. Many also feel tired, irritable and nauseous. Some people have an increase in appetite, but they lose weight.
Other signs are: Repeated or hard-to-heal infections of the skin, gums, vagina, or bladder; blurred vision; tingling or loss of feeling in the hands or feet; dry and itchy skin.
The symptoms can be so mild that they go unnoticed. They may also be confused with signs of aging. It is thought that millions of people worldwide suffer from type 2 diabetes without even realizing it.