By Samachar Vishesh
News
Chandigarh, Nov.13, 2021:- Diabetes
mellitus and hypertension are the two silent killers and most common risk
factors for CVDs(Cardiovascular Diseases), said Dr. Sanjay Bhadada, Professor
in the Department of Endocrinology, PGIMER, Chandigarh during the panel
discussion entitled ‘Let’s join hands to reduce your risk to two silent
killers- Hypertension and Diabetes’ on the occasion of World Diabetes Day,
2021. The panel discussion was held in the Department of Community Medicine and
School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Dr Sanjay
Bhadada further reiterated the findings of the New England Journal of Medicine
in which type 2 diabetes mellitus is almost 2.5 times more likely to develop in
individuals with hypertension than the individuals having normal blood
pressure, thereby indicating a synergistic and bidirectional pathogenic
relationship between diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Dr Sanjay Bhadada also
emphasized that the prevalence of diabetes has increased from just 2% in 2010
to 8-10% in 2020. In fact, Chandigarh has become India’s 'City of
Diabetes',.
Dr.
Sonu Goel, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public
Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, and Chief Organiser of the event said that it's
alarming that according to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control,
75% of Indian adults with Diabetes Mellitus also have hypertension. He also
gave a brief description of the project entitled, strengthening the
management of hypertension services through capacity building, media and
communication and stakeholders’ engagement in the state of Punjab" which
is providing services to the state of Punjab in the form of advocacy, media
engagement and providing technical support to reinforce the accessibility and
availability of hypertension screening and treatment services. He threw light
on the relevance of the theme of ‘World Diabetes Day’, i.e Access to Diabetes
Care.
Deliberating
upon the public health and preventive aspect of lowering the risk of getting
the two silent killers, he further said that we need to understand the
importance of recognizing foods high in fats, salt and sugar (HFSS). The
government of India should implement the Front of Package Labeling (FOPL)
policy so as to promote the easy recognition of HFSS foods.
Another
panelist, Dr. Sreenivas Reddy, Professor, Department of Cardiology, PGIMER,
Chandigarh and Professor and Head, Dept. of Cardiology, GMCH-32, Chandigarh
pointed that High Blood Pressure readings are a common finding in patients with
type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). The development of hypertension in diabetic
individuals not only complicates treatment strategy and increases healthcare
costs but also heightens the risk for macrovascular and microvascular
complications considerably.
The
panel discussion on the occasion of World Diabetes Day was held to orient
public health experts, clinicians and the general public on the importance of
tackling both the problems - diabetes & hypertension simultaneously.
