Guwahati: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) released guidelines for managing Type 1 diabetes on Monday. The instructions were released in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc on those who carry the virus.
The ICMR in a statement said, “The guidelines come at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected people with diabetes, exposing them to a high risk for severe illness and mortality.”
The guidelines include a wide range of themes, including epidemiology, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis, medicines (insulin and others), metabolic control monitoring, and so on.
According to news agency ANI, prominent researchers and doctors such as Dr Nikhil Tandon (HOD of Endocrinology & Metabolism, AIIMS, New Delhi), Dr V Mohan (Director, MDRF, Chennai), and Dr R S Dhaliwal (Head, Division of Non-Communicable Diseases, ICMR Hqrs) were involved in the concept and compilation of the guidelines.
The ICMR has produced guidelines for type 1 diabetes for the first time, having previously exclusively released guidelines for type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic disease in which the pancreas generates little or no insulin on its own.
Type 2 diabetes, which affects adults and occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or does not produce enough insulin, is the most common. The prevalence of this type of diabetes has risen rapidly in countries of all income categories during the last three decades.