Carefully balanced nutrition is the key to preventing diabetes, an Indian specialist has said. Dr Mrudula Phadke, the vice-chancellor of Maharashtra University of health, emphasised the importance of prevention, as opposed to trying to treat the disease once it has developed.
Dr Phadke recently inaugurated the International Congress on Diabetes, organised by the DAI (Diabetic Association of India.) Dr Phadke highlighted the difficulty in managing diabetes in both an economic and therapeutic sense, and the need for prevention to be given increased significance.
India now has an estimated 30 million people who know they are diabetics. The actual figure, as everywhere, is much higher. It is quite possible that India has the highest number of diabetics of any country in the world. The prevalence of diabetes is also increasing, both globally and within India. The diabetes problem in India has now reached pandemic proportions. Dr Phadke, aiming to raise awareness about diabetes in India, illustrated how important primary prevention could be in the fight against diabetes.
She said that evolving nutritional strategies and information, as well as foot, eye and kidney care along DAI guidelines was important. ‘These guidelines are particularly very useful in developing countries because most of the diabetes management is done by the primary care physicians,’ Dr Padke mentioned.

Get our free newsletters

Stay up to date with the latest news, research and breakthroughs.