Diabetes: A Neglected Disease During Coronavirus Pandemic

Diabetes is a very dangerous disease and was neglected in the novel coronavirus pandemic like other Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the negligence of many NCDs, especially diabetes across the world.

According to the President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Prof Andrew Boulton, the people with diabetes suffered a lot during the first wave of coronavirus as many could not visit hospitals and healthcare facilities due to restrictions and fear of contracting the infectious disease.

“Diabetes is equally dangerous as cancer or the heart disease as many of diabetics who don’t take it seriously end up losing one or both of their legs as well as eyesight due to complications of the disease especially diabetic foot ulcers”, Boulton said addressing the closing ceremony of 8th Nadep Foot Con 2020.

A two-day International Foot Conference was organized by the National Association of Diabetes Educators of Pakistan (NADEP) in collaboration with Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE), Karachi.

The conference being held for the last several years in various cities of Pakistan and is addressed by leading diabetologists and endocrinologists who share their experiences in managing and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers and prevention of lower-limb amputations.

The IDF President asserted that due to Covid-19, there is a huge backlog of non-Covid treatments which was evident from the fact that one-third of the deaths caused by the pathogen in the United Kingdom (UK) were because of it.

“There have been threats to diabetes care during the first wave of pandemic where all routine out-patient clinics were canceled, all routine investigations including X-ray and other scans were suspended, the supply of medicines was affected, non-emergency surgeries were canceled and even the transplant surgeries were postponed indefinitely”, Prof. Boulton added.

Prof. Andrew Boulton maintained that Covide-19 posed many threats for diabetic patients which include the quality of their diet. Many of them abandoned exercise and their blood sugar controls worsened. They had psychological impacts and in addition to that, they developed a fear of going to hospitals due to pandemic.

“This pandemic also resulted in some good opportunities in diabetes care which include expansion in telemedicine, digital education, and improvement of in-patient diabetes care services”, he said.

People with mild to moderate complications, especially those having diabetic foot ulcers can be treated at home under the supervision of diabetologists and experts through telemedicine, Prof Boulton added.

Addressing the concluding session of the conference, Secretary-General of the Pakistan Diabetic Association (PDA) Prof Dr Abdul Basit said that it was the right time that efforts were made to prevent diabetic foot ulcers.

“Our research and data have shown that amputation rate can be brought down drastically with education, training, modern interventions and use of latest medications”. Prof. Basit added.

Organizing Secretary of the NADEP Foot Con 2020 Dr Zahid Miyan addressed the threats posed by the multi-drug resistant bacteria and pathogens in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

He maintained that the best strategy is to prevent the occurrence of diabetic foot ulcers in the patient as prevention is the best strategy in poor countries like Pakistan.

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“Infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria and diabetic foot ulcers can be a very lethal combination and this can jeopardize the lives of diabetics even after amputations. Thereofre, the best strategy should be to focus on prevention from diabetic foot ulcers”, he added.

Another diabetologist Dr. Muhammad Saif-ul-Haq and a young orthopedic surgeon Dr. Shaheer Ali had a debate on what should be the best course of treatment for people with diabetic foot ulcers.

According to Dr. Saif, “50 to 60 percent of lower limbs of the patients could be saved with the help of antibiotics and other interventions”.

The conference was also addressed by the Secretary-General of NADEP Erum Ghafoor, Dr. Asher Fawwad, Dr. Khalid Abdul Basit, Dr. Riaz Memon, Dr. Zafar Abbassi, Ms. Barbara Eichorst, and several others.