Ignorance Is Not Bliss in Diabetes Care

Many people do ignore the treatment and care of diabetes. Many people rely on holistic care for a disease that needs medical care and intervention on the physicians’ side and by the patient. Diabetes has surpassed HIV in mortality rate and together with other non-communicable diseases has become the major cause of mortality in the world.

Diabetes affects the metabolism of the body, the eyes, heart, and kidneys and causes severe foot problems which is estimated to result in 50,000 lower limb amputations every year. This is expected to become 100,000 amputations per year in the near future. Diabetes not only affects the quantity, but the quality of life. Therefore, why do so many people continue to ignore the care and treatment of diabetes?

While the statistics can tell the story, people often chose to ignore them, thinking they can avoid the disease. Many people have the potential to do just that by changing their lifestyle and exercising to lose weight. For some this will work and they will avoid the disease, but for others, diabetes will creep into their lives and can affect them in ways they have not thought possible.

While the main concern of this article is about foot care, this is just a fraction of the problems that face people with diabetes. Unmanaged diabetes can end the quality of life for these individuals. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the physicians to intervene and educate people with diabetes and provide follow-up care to see that they understand the severity of diabetes.

There is a need for patients and the public to know about the importance of diabetes care, wearing the correct footwear, and what ignoring the doctors orders can mean to poor health. Experts can emphasize the importance of counseling by trained personnel, but the patients must learn to adhere to the training and also learn how to care for themselves.

Depression therapy needs to be implemented and the patient needs to learn how to manage diabetes and feel happy about life in general. It can be hoped that ignorance can be wiped out in the future. To assume that everything is okay today is just deluding ourselves.