Diabetes

India has one of the largest diabetic populations in the world, and a very large number of people who have it and do not yet know. Type 2 diabetes is silent for years while it is doing damage, which is exactly what makes testing worth the trouble.

Who should get tested

Anyone over about thirty with a family history, a large waist, high blood pressure, or a history of gestational diabetes. In practice, most Indian adults over thirty-five should have had an HbA1c at some point. It is one blood test.

Living well with it

Diabetes is manageable, and people who manage it well live full, long lives. What that takes: taking prescribed medication as prescribed, rather than stopping when you feel fine - feeling fine is the normal state of poorly controlled diabetes. Regular movement, which improves insulin sensitivity directly. Attention to refined carbohydrate, portion size and meal timing. And the annual checks people skip: eyes, feet, kidneys.

Feeling fine is not evidence of control. That is precisely why the condition is dangerous.

An honest warning about "cures"

There is a large market in India for products claiming to cure diabetes permanently. There is no such cure. Type 2 diabetes can sometimes go into remission with substantial weight loss and sustained change, which is a real and well-documented outcome - but it is not what those products are selling, and people have come to serious harm stopping prescribed medicine on that promise. Never stop a diabetes medication except on your doctor's advice.