EAST Londoner Bharti Khandoo has been living with type 2 diabetes for 15 years, a disease he says has had a positive impact on his life.
“I was in the habit of going for annual check-ups. My late brother, who was a doctor, picked it up and put me on medication,” said Khandoo ahead of World Diabetes Day this Thursday.
“Diabetes is not a death sentence and there’s no such thing as a diabetic diet – just a healthy lifestyle and exercise,” said the former John Bisseker High School principal. Khandoo is also the treasurer at the East London Branch of Diabetes South Africa.
The father of three said he told his wife as soon as he was diagnosed and immediately changed his diet. Over the years he has been “fairly strict”.
“Diabetes hasn’t changed my life in a negative way at all; instead it has made me live a healthier life,” he said.
Khandoo is required to take tablets twice a day.
He believes the disease is a combination of genes and lifestyle factors. In his case, he blames his eating habits and lifestyle.
“Too much sweet stuff and not exercising. Sugar does not cause diabetes, but it aggravates it, especially if it is hereditary,” he said.
He said sweet things were not entirely forbidden; one could have them in moderation.
He urged people to have their sugar levels tested annually and for those diagnosed with type 1 diabetes to purchase their own machine to check their sugar levels daily.
Meanwhile, Danielle Smart is one of only two women participating in a cycling relay to raise funds for underprivileged children living with diabetes.
Smart, an employee of Novo Nordisk, global healthcare experts in diabetes care, is from Port Elizabeth.
Together with 15 other cyclists, Smart began the Change Diabetes Cycle Relay from Johannesburg to George on Thursday.
“People with diabetes have a lifelong challenge; this is just a two-day challenge for me,” said the 30-year-old.
The cycle challenge will end in George.
In a statement, retail and healthcare brand Clicks said diabetes was one of the fastest growing diseases in the world, due to inactivity combined with poor eating habits.
According to Diabetes South Africa, an estimated three-and-a-half million South Africans are diabetic – with millions more undiagnosed.
Diabetes affects a person’s quality of life and can also lead to a number of more serious conditions, including heart disease, stroke, blindness and kidney disease.
Clicks pharmacist Waheed Abdurahman said: “If you are insulin resistant or have diabetes, remember that treatment is a lifelong commitment of blood-sugar monitoring, healthy eating, regular exercise and sometimes medications or insulin therapy.”
The World Health Organisation projects that diabetes, which does not discriminate in terms of race or gender or age, will be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.
Registered dietician Caryn Davies said diabetes management no longer focuses solely on restricting items that contain sugar, but rather on an understanding and avoidance of the foods which can raise blood sugar dramatically, of which “sweetness” is not always an accurate predictor.
Diabetic-friendly foods should contain little added sugar, be low in fat, especially saturated fat, and high in fibre. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Healthy lifestyle is key to surviving diabetes
“I was in the habit of going for annual check-ups. My late brother, who was a doctor, picked it up and put me on medication,” said Khandoo ahead of World Diabetes Day this Thursday.
“Diabetes is not a death sentence and there’s no such thing as a diabetic diet – just a healthy lifestyle and exercise,” said the former John Bisseker High School principal. Khandoo is also the treasurer at the East London Branch of Diabetes South Africa.
The father of three said he told his wife as soon as he was diagnosed and immediately changed his diet. Over the years he has been “fairly strict”.
“Diabetes hasn’t changed my life in a negative way at all; instead it has made me live a healthier life,” he said.
Khandoo is required to take tablets twice a day.
He believes the disease is a combination of genes and lifestyle factors. In his case, he blames his eating habits and lifestyle.
“Too much sweet stuff and not exercising. Sugar does not cause diabetes, but it aggravates it, especially if it is hereditary,” he said.
He said sweet things were not entirely forbidden; one could have them in moderation.
He urged people to have their sugar levels tested annually and for those diagnosed with type 1 diabetes to purchase their own machine to check their sugar levels daily.
Meanwhile, Danielle Smart is one of only two women participating in a cycling relay to raise funds for underprivileged children living with diabetes.
Smart, an employee of Novo Nordisk, global healthcare experts in diabetes care, is from Port Elizabeth.
Together with 15 other cyclists, Smart began the Change Diabetes Cycle Relay from Johannesburg to George on Thursday.
“People with diabetes have a lifelong challenge; this is just a two-day challenge for me,” said the 30-year-old.
The cycle challenge will end in George.
In a statement, retail and healthcare brand Clicks said diabetes was one of the fastest growing diseases in the world, due to inactivity combined with poor eating habits.
According to Diabetes South Africa, an estimated three-and-a-half million South Africans are diabetic – with millions more undiagnosed.
Diabetes affects a person’s quality of life and can also lead to a number of more serious conditions, including heart disease, stroke, blindness and kidney disease.
Clicks pharmacist Waheed Abdurahman said: “If you are insulin resistant or have diabetes, remember that treatment is a lifelong commitment of blood-sugar monitoring, healthy eating, regular exercise and sometimes medications or insulin therapy.”
The World Health Organisation projects that diabetes, which does not discriminate in terms of race or gender or age, will be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.
Registered dietician Caryn Davies said diabetes management no longer focuses solely on restricting items that contain sugar, but rather on an understanding and avoidance of the foods which can raise blood sugar dramatically, of which “sweetness” is not always an accurate predictor.
Diabetic-friendly foods should contain little added sugar, be low in fat, especially saturated fat, and high in fibre. — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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