Diabetes: Food habits main subscriber?
 

by Shanika Sriyananda

Mrs. Samaraweera, my good neighbour, went into a coma last week. Yasantha, a distant relative of mine, who was strong and young, has lost weight drastically not because of rigorous exercises or by skipping meals. Mr. Perera complains of non-healing wounds. Little Nuwan cannot eat sweets anymore.

All of them including over 4.5 million Sri Lankans, suffer from a single illness - DIABETES. If you talk to a group of hundred people, half of them would simply admit "Mata Seeni" (I have sugar).

The two major factors, according to health experts contributing to the alarming rise in diabetes are-poor diet and lack of exercise. In today's high paced culture, with its emphasis on "fast foods", and neglected exercises, diabetes will be a scourge in many countries.

The present eating culture despite repeated warnings of health experts is that the traditional foods that boost one's energy have been overlooked for candy, french fries, potato chips, ice cream, pasta and many other mouth-watering fast food items, full of oil. This has caused a rapid rise in blood sugar among people.

Being a major disease among the busy city dwellers, it has now spread its wings to the rural areas too.

"Eat healthy food and avoid diabetes to lead a healthy life. And most importantly if you carefully select the kind of food that is healthy, you can enjoy eating many kinds of food for ever", Dr. Lakshmi Somatunga, Director Non-Communicable Diseases of the Ministry of Health says.

Q: What is diabetes?

A: Diabetes mellitus develops when your body is no longer able to produce insulin or in inadequate quantities.

Q: What is insulin?

A: It is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, and starch into energy which is needed for daily life. Without insulin your body cannot get the energy it needs from your food. This hormone is produced by a gland in the body called the pancreas.

Most of our food intake is turned into glucose, a form of sugar which our body uses for energy. Insulin helps the glucose get into the cells of the body to provide energy.

Q: How many types of diabetes?

A: There are two main types of diabetes.

Type 1 : This is called insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM). Patients require insulin for survival and this occurs when very little or no insulin is produced. It develops mostly in children and young adults. The onset is usually sudden and dramatic. This accounts for about 10 per cent of all diabetes cases in the country.

Type 2: This is called non-insulin dependent diabetes. Patients do not generally require insulin to be administered for survival. This occurs when the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin to meet its requirements or it can not utilize the insulin that is produced effectively.

Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through diet, routine exercises and oral medication. This, which is prevalent among adults is now becoming common in younger people, including children and teens. The onset is gradual and therefore hard to detect and accounts for about 90 per cent of the total diabetes population.

Q: What are the symptoms of Diabetes?

A: *Frequent urination

*Excessive thirst and dry mouth

*Constant hunger

*Unexplained weight loss

*Blurred vision

*Repeated infections.

*Non-healing wounds.

Q: Who is at risk?

A: Risk factors for type 1 diabetes are not very well defined, but genetic and environmental factors can trigger its development.

Type 2 diabetes is becoming a major problem in may parts of the world. So anyone, anywhere, at any age is at risk of developing diabetes.

Some factors which increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes are * Obesity, lack of exercise, mental stress, family history of diabetes, a prior history of diabetes during pregnancy.

According to Dr. Somatunge the best way to prevent diabetes is through healthy life styles with a balanced diet.

"The buzz words should be regular physical exercise, at least 30 minutes a day for 3 days a week, no smoking and reduce alcohol intake and lead a stress-free life to say no to DIABETES", she adds.

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Honey - its value as food and medicine

by Dr. Sujeewa Vithanage.

Honey was of great importance as an article of diet and medicine to our forefathers. In fact honey was almost the only available source of sugar. Mention has been made of honey in the very ancient books of the Greeks, Arabs and Hindus.

Honey is the sweet viscous liquid produced by bees with nectar obtained from flowers. The honey from different varieties of flowers are commonly named after the flowers. The source of honey in the nectar determines its colour and flavour.

Honey in Sinhala is known as "Meepany", Unani it is popularly known as "Asal" (Arabic term) and the Urdu synonym for its "Shehad". The Indian pharmacopoeia gives it the Latin name "Mel".

It may be known to a few that on rare occasions bees can produce honey which could b poisonous to humans. This is from one particular variety of Rhododendron flower.

Sanskrit names are 'Madhu' Madhveeka, Mirkshika, Kshawdra, Kusumasaw. The honey taken from different eight types of the ancient times, are: 1. Makshika, 2. Bhramara, 3. Kshawdra, 4. Pawththika, 5. Chathra, 6. Arghaya, 7. Ouddalaka, 8. Dala.

Honey is one part of "Mithra panchaka" and "Paspani".

The nutritional potentialities of different varieties of honey are immeasurable. Honey contains a variety of substances which are essential to a human body. The major constituent is sugar in the form of glucose, fructose or levulose.

Among the other things, honey contains enzymes in their most valuable and subtle forms which are very much superior to the synthetic imitations developed from animal sources. These natural enzymes are one of the most important properties of honey. It also contains calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, chlorine, phosphorous, sulphur and iodine salts, as well as many other mineral salts.

The mineral salts contained in honey are essential to the human body. Honey is an acid-neutralizer and helps in digesting certain foods.

Scientists in the past believed that honey contained no vitamins. But subsequent experiments and studies on honey has shown that honey contains a good amount of vitamin C and B complex. Vitamin B in honey, helps in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins and improve vision. The B1, in honey is important in protein metabolism and in prevention of skin diseases. It is also important for the health of the muscles.

Honey is a complex substance and very difficult to breakdown and separate into its different components.

The temperament of honey varies according to the duration from the time of its collection to preservation and its consistency.

For many centuries honey has not only been considered as a food but also as a remedy for many ailments.

Honey is extensively used as a base in the preparation of most of the medicines both for its food and medicinal value and also for its preservative property. Some physicians recommend honey with milk to feed infants, especially those suffering from scurry, rickets, malnutrition, anaemia, inflammation of intestines.

The use of sunlight externally and of honey internally for the regulation of calcium metabolism and the secretions of internal gland is invaluable.

From time immemorial honey has been used as a remedy for respiratory disorders. Honey plays a major role in the treatment of paralysis specially at its onset and when the paralysis is due to cerebral thrombosis. Honey applied on the scalp removes lice.

It is used as a facial pack in beauty parlours and in hand lotions. Mouth wash with honey strengthens gums, and cleans teeth. Hence care must be taken to detect such cases early and avoid complications.

(Reference: Ayurveda Sameeksha, Ayurvede Pharmacopoeia,)

How parents can deal with... Lying

Lying can be defined as making an untrue statement, with the intent to deceive another so as to gain an advantage or evade unpleasantness.

During the pre-school years, children have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. Thus they are prone to exaggerations and wishful thinking.

Reasons why

1. Child fears the unpleasant consequences of wrongdoing such as punishment or parental disapproval and loss of parental love.

2. Behaviour is the means chosen by child to protect himself or seek revenge or gain attention or handle painful feelings.

3. Child has learnt behaviour from parents, siblings or friends.

4. Child cannot distinguish make-believe from reality.

5. Child's emotional needs like the need for love and security and praise and recognition are unmet.

6. Parent's expectation of child are too high or perfectionistic.

7. Child has low self-esteem and feels inferior.

How to prevent

1. Model acts of honesty by always telling the truth and refraining from telling "White Lies" or making empty promises.

2. Use stories or specific incidents to stimulate discussions on issues of lying.

3. Use stories to also point out which situations are make-believe and which are about things that really happened.

4. Give your child plenty of praise and recognition for what he is or does, so that he does not have to lie to feel good. Your child will also feel secure enough to admit his mistakes and misdeeds.

5. Set a reasonable penalty for lying and make honesty more rewarding.

6. Set realistic standards that is within your child's capability.

7. Confront your child with the evidence of his misdeed rather than asking him what has happened. You can say, "I know that you took $5 from my wallet." Instead of "Do you know anything about the missing $5 from my wallet?".

8. Create situations where your child can achieve success such as the completion of a simple task.

What to do

1. Understand your child's main motive in lying as it will help you to prevent the problem from happening again.

2. Make it clear to your child that you know he has told an untruth. This will prevent your child from telling a further lie. You should also explain the adverse consequences; for example that adults will not trust him.

3. Get your child to be aware of the act of lying by discussing or examining the situation with him and pointing out areas which are not accurate or believable.

4. Penalise your child both for the act of lying and for the misdeed that prompted the lie. Your child should be clear as to which penalty is for which wrongdoing.

5. Reassure your child that you still love him even though you are disappointed with his act of lying.

6. Identify and prevent the misdeed that prompted the act of lying.

7. Seek help from a Social Worker if your child lies persistently.

What not to do

1. Demand or force child to confess or testify against himself.

2. Punish child severely and frequently.

3. Criticise, ridicule and condemn.

4. Provide temptation for child to lie.

Source: Handling common problems of children