Technology useful in preventing diabetes, says Kerala-based expert

Technology plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. It can also be beneficial and cost effective in the prevention of major illnesses like diabetes.

Indian diabetes specialist, Dr.Jothydev Kesavadev, presented his original research on the prevention of progression from pre-diabetes to established diabetes at the 7th International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) at Vienna recently.

New generation Continuous Glucose Monitoring devices which help graph blood sugar automatically every five minutes, reveals glucose fluctuations, usually missed during ordinary investigations, which in turn, motivates the patients to adopt healthy life style and diet.

Dr.Jothydev, the only invited speaker from Asia, at this biggest global technology conference for diabetes spoke on the merits and demerits using Insulin Pumps in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes in India for over a decade.

Insulin Pumps are now proven to be extremely beneficial with significant effects on not only blood sugars but also in the treatment of neuropathic pain and sexual dysfunction in type 2 diabetes patients.

In the session chaired by US based diabetes specialist, Dr. Bruce Bode, Dr.Jothydev also highlighted the increasing tendency to misuse Pumps for eating more and adjusting the dosages of insulin accordingly.

Insulin pumps offer better quality of life and is indicated only in the actively working patient population.

Several new Insulin pumps, specially designed for type 2 diabetes patients were on display at the ATTD.

Thousands of research papers from all over the world on the interface of technology in the management of diabetes were presented at the conference which concluded on February 8.