4 tips for people with diabetes to stay safe during this Covid season

It is a known fact that people with diabetes are more prone to infections. From urinary and foot infections to tuberculosis, people with diabetes need to be extra careful about preventing and treating infectious diseases. Covid-19 too has shown to be more severe and likely to lead to increased mortality in people with diabetes.
Dr. V Mohan, Chairman and Chief Diabetologist, Dr.Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, offers 4 tips to guard people with diabetes against Covid and prevent complications. He calls this as the ABCD mantra of diabetes management.

Stands for Glycosylated Hemoglobin. HbA1C is a blood test that shows your blood sugar control for the past 3 months. Keeping the A1c below 7% enhances one’s immunity multifold. The HbA1C level may vary as per age. This needs a three-fold approach – diet, exercise and medicines. While medicines form an important part of the diabetes control, effective diet and exercise regimen are even more important. The choice of medicines needs to be tailor-made as per the physiological make-up of the patient. Diet and exercise also needs to be individualized depending on their age, mobility and other co-morbidities.
Dr. Mohan says that the reason why a patient needs to undergo regular checkups is because diabetes control needs to be periodically checked along with the efficacy medicines; diet and fitness regimen can also be advised. The fitness department at Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centres has formulated simple exercises suitable for people with diabetes
stands for Blood pressure. This should preferably be around 120/ 80 mm of Hg. This of course can be higher in older people. Blood pressure control is however important to maintain a healthy heart and kidneys.
stands for Cholesterol. Cholesterol is measured as serum cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Each of these parameters needs to be kept in control since they contribute to cardiac problems.
stands for Vitamin D. Studies at Madras Diabetes Research Foundation have shown that vitamin D deficiency is seen in over 70% of Indians. Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to correlate with an increased prevalence of infections. Indians are also vitamin B12 deficient. Moreover, anemia is quite prevalent in women. These deficiencies can be managed with basic supplements and diet adjustments.

What is Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)?
Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) using ambulatory glucose monitoring can help both the patient and the doctor in monitoring the efficacy of the therapy and getting the right balance of diet, exercise and medicines. It is possible to monitor glucose levels 24 x 7 to make sure that they are maintained within normal limits throughout the day and determine whether the prescribed dosages, diet regimen, exercise efforts are working effectively without low or high sugar reactions.

Firstly at DMDSC, the treatment methods followed are based on 30 years of research on diabetes carried out through their sister institution, the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) which is ranked one of the leading research institutions for Diabetes in India, by several agencies. Extensive research carried out among the Indian population has helped to improve the treatment of diabetes. Secondly, the Dr. Mohan’s group of institutions have specialized tests to find out the type of diabetes so that personalized diabetes care or precision diabetes care can be given to each and every person with diabetes. This helps the patients to prevent diabetes complications. Several hundred patients treated at DMDSC have crossed 90 years of age and are marching towards their 100^th birthday. Thirdly, uniform methods of treatment are followed in all 50 branches of DMDSC across India.
Diabetes is often diagnosed and treated using classifications derived from western populations. This may not be fully relevant to India. Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centres, have been treating and studying the blood parameters of more than 5 lakh patients with diabetes over 30 years. They have now been able to find out that “type 2” diabetes, (the most common form of diabetes) in Indians, is not a single homogenous entity. Actually, it can be sub-classified into different “clusters” or sub-types. These distinctive clusters have different responses to treatment. This ground-breaking has helped to redefine diabetes treatment in Indians.
Rather than “bottling” diabetes care into “tailor-made packages” and programs, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialty Clinics rely on diagnostic skills to separate the different types of diabetes and provide precision care and updated personalized diabetes medication. “One size does not fit all.” Every patient needs to be diagnosed in detail and classified as per their response to medication and their susceptible to develop kidney, eye, foot or heart complications. Most patients with diabetes in India seek clinical care for managing only the complications of uncontrolled diabetes: heart attacks, kidney failure, blindness and foot amputations. Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes attempts to turn this paradigm on its head by focusing on early diagnosis of diabetes and thus help them to prevent all complications of diabetes.
Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre is currently present in Chennai (8 clinics and a hospital), Hyderabad (7 clinics), Bangalore (5 clinics), Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata (2 clinics), Pondicherry, Calicut, Trivandrum, Coimbatore, Vellore, Tanjore, Madurai, Trichy, Tuticorin, Erode, Salem, Tiruppur, Kanchipuram, Vizag, Vijayawada, Guntur, Nellore, Chittoor, Kadappa, Rajamundry, Tirupathi, Kurnool, Warangal, and very soon at Kakinada. They also have a rural clinic at Tamil Nadu to help the rural population.

Website : www.drmohans.com
Phone : 8939110000
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