CMC exhibition 'Eye on Diabetes'- a prelude to World Diabetes Day

Vellore: An exhibition and poster competition on the theme –Eye on Diabetes organized by the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, on Friday acted as a prelude to the World Diabetes Day.

The exhibition that lay emphasis on 'Pregnancy and Diabetes', by way of stalls portrayed various aspects of the disease that are crucial for preventive care in diabetes. The stalls focused on healthy diet, foot care, heart and eye care.

Professor & Head, Unit-I, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, CMC, Nihal Thomas, who conducted the exhibition speaking about gestational diabetes said, "Gestational diabetes is one of the important problems in pregnant women. Twenty per cent of women in Tamil Nadu have gestational diabetes. Within five years, 50 per cent of them develop type 2 diabetes. This is a huge number of young women who develop type 2 diabetes .

According to Thomas when the gestational diabetes group was targeted for diabetes education & exercise- it benefited, as women made all the difference to a family.He further spoke about how gestational diabetes led to big babies,difficult deliveries and the risk of the newborn getting diabetes later in life.. He advised pregnant women to keep their sugar levels in control.

The exhibition summed up eating healthy, being active and thinking positive, as a route to controlling diabetes.The physiotherapy stall spoke of physical activity as the mantra to control type 2 diabetes and the path to controlling blood glucose levels.The cardiovascular diseases stall again spoke about controlling blood sugar levels to prevent cardio vascular infections in diabetes. The footcare stall enlightened visitors & carried out fundus examination; while retinopathy prevention was highlighted at the ophthalmology stall.

Summing up the diabetes prevention cycle, the food stalls exhibited cereals, pulses and vegetables to be constituting healthy diet.A cooking demonstration of simple recipes for diabetics and puppet show on diabetes management was also part of the exhibition.

A mini camp screened people for random blood sugar levels and wherever required, physician consultation was provided to patients. A poster competition on pregnancy and diabetes was also held.