Even as diabetes reaches epidemic proportions across the globe, most Indian doctors are now trying to highlight that prevention is actually better than cure for this dreaded disease.

Towards this end, the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation has entered into collaboration with the Atlanta-based Emory University for D-CLIP in order to find low-cost and sustainable lifestyle intervention for prevention of Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Currently the organizations have entered into a three-year research programme funded by the International Diabetes Federation to examine preventive measures to tackle diabetes.

"We encourage communities to get into activities such as group walking or discussing a healthy menu. They will have to be role models and encourage healthy behaviour," says Dr K M Venkatanarayan, professor of medicine, Emory University. "At the end of three years, we expect to see a huge difference. And may be we can prove the diabetes number revision (that more Indians would have diabetes) wrong if we start working now."

The study plans to recruit 700 people in the pre-diabetic stage. Half the people will be given standard treatment, while the other half will be educated on lifestyle measures for diabetes prevention, increasing physical activity, diet and behaviour modification for weight loss and disease prevention.


Source-Medindia
RAS