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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2010 | Volume
: 54
| Issue : 1 | Page : 46-47 |
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Some observations on diabetes mellitus in Ludhiana, Punjab
Paramita Sengupta1, Nishant Samuel Benjamin2, AI Benjamin3
1 Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
2 Final Year MBBS Student, Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
3 Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab, India
| Date of Web Publication | 29-Sep-2010 |
Correspondence Address:
Paramita Sengupta
Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, Punjab
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0019-557X.70556
How to cite this article:
Sengupta P, Benjamin NS, Benjamin A I. Some observations on diabetes mellitus in Ludhiana, Punjab. Indian J Public Health 2010;54:46-7 |
How to cite this URL:
Sengupta P, Benjamin NS, Benjamin A I. Some observations on diabetes mellitus in Ludhiana, Punjab. Indian J Public Health [serial online] 2010 [cited 2023 Mar 22];54:46-7. Available from: https://www.ijph.in/text.asp?2010/54/1/46/70556 |
Sir,
India leads the world with the highest number of people suffering from diabetes, estimated to be 31.7 million in the year 2000 and projected to be 79.4 million by the year 2030 [1] . But population-based epidemiological information regarding the disease is lacking in this part of the country. Hence, a cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 100 urban and 100 rural respondents to study the prevalence of the disease in the 30-64 years old residents of Ludhiana, Punjab. The respondents were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was determined using capillary whole blood, obtained by prick method, and tested on Lifescan (Johnson and Johnson) One-Touch; Horizon TM Glucometer. According to the manufacturer's specifications, the glucometer was internally calibrated to automatically display the plasma-equivalent results [2] . FPG ?126mg/dl was taken as diagnostic of DM, as per WHO criteria. Respondents already diagnosed and on treatment (oral hypoglycaemic drugs / insulin), were also included as diabetics.
The reported prevalence of the disease in the earlier studies elsewhere in the country has been about 2.4% among the rural and 4.0% to 11.6% among the urban population [3] . Our study found the prevalence of DM to be 20.0% (urban) and 11.0 % (rural), which appeared to be the highest reported in the country. 35.0% urban and 18.2% rural respondents of those found to be suffering from DM in our study were as yet undiagnosed, the submerged part of the iceberg. The "new to known" ratio of 1: 1.9 (urban) and 1: 4.5 (rural) found in our study confirmed that the process of early diagnosis and identification of the diabetics was unsatisfactory, more so in the urban population than in the rural. Our findings are in conformity with those of Ramachandran et al.[4] in South India, who reported "new-to-known ratio" in their study as 1: 2 (urban) and 3: 9 (rural).Out of those already diagnosed, 53.8% of urban and 33.3% of rural population were not on regular treatment. It is quite a paradox that with better access to higher level of health care and with presumably a higher level of health awareness, both the under-diagnosis and non-compliance with treatment amongst the known diabetics were found to be higher in the urban areas compared to the rural. There is need for concerted efforts to focus on the disease as a priority for control and prevention, through health education and targeted public health measures.
 References | |  |
| 1. | Wild S, Roglic G, Green A, Sicree R, King H. Global Prevalence of Diabetes: Estimates For the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes Care 2004;27:1047-53.  [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
| 2. | Lifescan, Inc., Johnson and Johnson. One-Touch; Horizon TM Blood Glucose Monitoring System Instructions for Use. Specifications. Lifescan Inc., 1000 Gibraltar Drive, Milipitas, California 95035, U.S.A., May 2004. |
| 3. | Zimmet P. Challenges in diabetes epidemiology from west to rest of the world. Diabetes Care 1992;15:232-52. |
| 4. | Ramachandran A, Snehalatha C, Dharmraj D, Vishwanathan M. Prevalence of glucose intolerance in Asian Indians: urban-rural difference and significance of upper body adiposity. Diabetes Care 1992;15:1348-55. |
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