Blindness Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Study: Increasing Protein and Dairy Intake Reduce Burden of Diabetes

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 08:29:01 +0000

Increasing protein and dairy intake may help reduce burden of diabetes: A study

Diabetes – increase in blood glucose levels – is an emerging health problem, especially in developing countries. According to the World Health Organisation, India had 69 million diabetic individuals in 2015 and the number is projected to go up to 98 million by 2030. The problem is more serious for Asians as their genetic make-up puts them at a greater risk of diabetes at a younger age than their European counterparts.

If left untreated, diabetes can intensify to serious health conditions like blindness, kidney failure, heart problems, etc. Apart from genetic factors, the occurrence of diabetes is related to food preferences and lifestyles. Therefore, understanding the link between the consumption of various foods and the prevalence of diabetes in different states can help in devising effective strategies to address the problem.

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A new study has linked the food preferences of individuals to the prevalence of diabetes in various states of India. The study has found that eating calorie-rich food like sugar and honey increases the risk of diabetes while the addition of protein-rich food and dairy products in a meal can help reduce the risk of diabetes.

The study is based on data from the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015– 2016), 2011 census, data on per capita crop production, and consumption figures of different food groups from the 68th round of the National Sample Survey. It evaluated trends of food availability and preferences in various states with diabetes numbers.

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It was found that diabetes was more common in states like West Bengal and Kerala where people consume more non-vegetarian food than the one where the diet is predominantly vegetarian. This is because a vegetarian diet helps in diabetes management by making the body sensitive to the insulin hormone.

Researchers also noted that there were more diabetics in the states where people consumed more sugar and honey though this trend was not valid in the case of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Haryana. The study also found that eating protein-rich food such as pulses and nuts decreased the chances of diabetes. Similarly, states, where people ate more dairy products, had a low prevalence of diabetes.

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Diabetes, often dubbed as a lifestyle disorder, was also found to be high in urban districts than in rural areas. This is so because people in cities tend to be less physically active. This makes urbanization an important factor for the growing number of diabetics in the country. Also, diabetes was found to be more common in males than females as has been indicated in the earlier studies.

‘Our study has identified hotspot districts having a high prevalence of diabetes and recommended them to be targeted in public health programs,’ said Dr. Preeti Dhillon, author of the study and Assistant Professor at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai. The analysis showed that 6.9% of adults in India between the age of 15-49 years have diabetes. Among the states and union territories, diabetes is highly prevalent in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, while the least in Rajasthan. The prevalence of disease was found to be more in districts that are close to the coastal areas. ‘The high prevalence of diabetes in Andamans and Lakshadweep is of interest as this has not been reported earlier and it would be worthwhile exploring whether any genetic or environmental factors contribute to this,’ commented Dr. V Mohan, Director, Madras Diabetes Research Foundation. Though he was not associated with the study.

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Dr. Anoop Misra, Vice President, Diabetes Foundation (India), commented that while this study provided new information about dietary context and prevalence of diabetes, it must be understood that diabetes is a multifactorial disease. Genetics, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and other lifestyle factors should be taken into consideration before establishing conclusive links. Food intake is a continuously changing and dynamic process and cannot be completely captured in a cross-sectional snapshot. He agreed, however, that high protein intake is needed for Indians as it boosts glucose metabolism in muscles reducing incidences of diabetes. The research team at IIPS included Koustav Ghosh and Gopal Agrawal apart from Dr. Dhillon. The results of this study have been published in the Journal of Public Health.

Credits: India Science Wire

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Vision on Blindness Cure Needs Aggressive Approach

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 10:31:24 +0000

Despite current measures, blindness in the world is increasing by 1 to 2 million cases per year – the result is a 100% increase in world blindness by the year 2020 unless more aggressive measures are in place.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of visual impairment is either preventable or curable with treatment. As of 2015, there were 940 million people with some degree of vision loss. 246 million had low vision and over 45 million were blind with 60% of these individuals living in China, India and Sub-Saharan Africa. Majority of people with poor vision reside in the developing world and are over the age of 50 years. Visual impairments have considerable economic costs both directly due to the cost of treatment and indirectly due to decreased ability to work.
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India is home to over 8 million blind people, another 50 million have moderate to severe vision impairment. The loss of sight causes enormous human suffering for the affected individuals and their families. It also represents public health, social and economic problem for countries, especially the developing ones, where 9 out of 10 of the world’s blind live.
Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment or vision loss, is a decreased ability to see to a degree that causes problems not fixable by usual means. The term blindness is used for complete or nearly complete vision loss. Visual impairment may cause people difficulties with normal daily activities such as driving, reading, socializing and walking.
The most common causes of visual impairment globally are uncorrected refractive errors (43%), cataracts (33%), and glaucoma (2%). Refractive errors include nearsighted, farsighted, presbyopia and astigmatism. Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness. Other disorders that may cause visual problems include age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, corneal clouding, childhood blindness, and a number of infections. Screening for vision problems in children may improve future vision and educational achievement.
According to Mr. J.P. Nadda, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, “The central government is committed, inter alia, to developing and strengthening the strategy of NPCB towards ‘Eye Health for All’ by way of preventing visual impairment through provisioning of comprehensive universal eyecare services and quality service deliveries”.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare says, “Despite greater awareness and policy interventions, blindness in the world is increasing phenomenally and according to WHO unless more aggressive measures are taken, there may be 100 percent increase in blindness by the year 2020. This is highly alarming & needs drastic wholesale measures”.
This calls for reducing the backlog of avoidable blindness through identification and treatment of curable blind at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, based on an assessment of the overall burden of visual impairment in the country.
Optometrists as the first point of contact for primary eye care services and equipped with the requisite knowledge and expertise, thus create a huge impact in preventing this avoidable blindness & vision impairment.
Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State, Labour & Employment says, “The traditional core of optometry has been the assessment of visual health and management strategies centered on spectacle lens and contact lens therapy. This core, however, has expanded greatly over the past century to include a number of other important services. Today’s optometry professionals are well educated and well trained to provide the full range of services thereby enhancing vision, protecting the health and preventing avoidable blindness due to refractive errors and visual impairment by over 80%”.
Mr. Ashok Siddharth, MP (Rajya Sabha) & Member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare noted that “Optometrists today provide approximately two-thirds of all eye care in the country and are prepared to meet the growing needs of the public”.
“The role of optometrists in tackling the problem of refractive error and visual impairment is important. Timely detection of refractive errors and their correction by spectacle can not only improve the child’s potential during the formative years but also prevent complications associated with uncorrected refractive error” said Dr. Promila Gupta, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
The hard work and devotion of Indian optometrists within their profession and around their communities thus provide an invaluable service to millions of Indian citizens. Without their dedication, desire to serve the community and professionalism in delivering excellent eye care services; our fellow countrymen would not enjoy the optimal vision they have today.
In the backdrop of the above, Indian Optometric Association, the apex industry association representing approximately 12,000 Doctors of Optometry, optometry students, and paraoptometric assistants accessible to the common public.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Anil Tyagi, President, Indian Optometric Association said “AIOC has become synonymous with providing participants from across India & abroad, an excellent opportunity to share their research, experiences & optometry advancements. They sought to generate, from the conference, a better understanding of the role of optometry in eradicating the 80 percent avoidable blindness in India and other developing countries. The key to success would be making primary eye-care services easily accessible &economicaaly viable for a common public”
AIOC 2018 Organising Secretary, Dr. Subodh Dixit said: “the 37th AIOC 2018 conference spread over 16 interactive sessions & 10 workshops showcased over 75 prolific speakers, nearly 600 plus industry delegates & 20+ exhibitors; thus, offering exceptional value both as a traditional technical conference & a global networking forum”.
Dr. Rajeev Prasad, Conference Chairman, AIOC 2018 added that “the All India Optometry Conference (AIOC 2018) engaged collective experience & expertise of practitioners, optometrists, industry partners, academia, and technology organizations to discuss, deliberate, share & learn the best of practices and leadership traits”.

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