Dikshit launches web portal on diabetes awareness

NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit Friday launched a web portal giving “complete information” on constraints of and treatment for diabetes.

The site - www.ddrc.in - was launched by the Delhi Diabetic Research Centre (DDRC) following a study undertaken by the centre on diabetes and its link to depression.

Dikshit reiterated the government’s commitment towards tackling diabetes and hailed the portal as a “complete information platform for people with diabetes to enable them to lead happy and healthy lives”.

The DDRC study, undertaken over a period of two years on 1166 diabetic patients aged 35 to 60 years, reveals that incidence of depression is high in diabetic patients in India at 15 to 18 percent.

Such patients are heavily dependent on anti-depressant medication and miss out on essential diabetes medications apart from being sleep deprived and displaying irritable behaviour, the study says.

“Depression can trigger type 2 diabetes and at the same time, people with diabetes may also develop depression. Unless proper measures are taken to overcome the incidence of depression in diabetes, it will be difficult to achieve better control on diabetes,” said A.K. Jhingan, chairman DDRC.

Surbhee Soni, a clinical psychologist at Fortis Hospital here said: “In people with diabetes, there is a need to treat depression as it helps them manage both diabetes and depression, thus improving the quality of their lives. Constant support of family members, exercise, and psychotherapy can relieve depression with positive effect on mood and glycemic control.”