A study conducted by MV Hospital of Diabetes, Chennai to determine the course of action for prevention and cure of diabetes In India trained special focus on the high prevalence of tuberculosis in diabetics and vice versa. The study was conducted by Prof M Viswanathan, Diabetes Research Centre among TB patients registered in selected five tuberculosis units in India for DOTS treatment. More than 800 TB patients were screened for diabetes using two-hour OGTT test under this programme.
The key findings of the study are 25.3 per cent of TB patients had diabetes and another 24.5 per cent had pre diabetes. Out of 25.3 per cent, more than 9 per cent were newly detected and 16 per cent were already diagnosed with diabetes. Nearly half of the subjects, who had TB and diabetes, had infectious form of pulmonary TB.
In the follow up study conducted among these TB patients showed that the presence of diabetes has adverse effects on tuberculosis patients in terms of tuberculosis treatment outcomes. A delay in a sputum conversion was observed among these patients compared to non-diabetic tuberculosis patients.
Diabetics are more likely to have impaired immunity compared to normal people. This defect in the protective mechanism makes them prone to acquire infectious diseases more easily than their normal counterparts. People having diabetes, living in a country where TB is also common, are three times more at risk of acquiring TB. The chance of reactivation of past TB is also common among the people with diabetes. With the increasing number of people with diabetes in India and being a country with a remarkable TB burden, it is necessary to look at the magnitude of people with both TB and diabetes.
The findings of the above two studies and the growing number of people with diabetes in the community suggests the need of screening each TB patient for diabetes which would help in maintaining a better glycemic control throughout the TB treatment regimen and assist in achieving higher cured rates for tuberculosis disease.
The MV Hospital for Diabetes, Chennai India celebrated its diamond jubilee (1954-2014) in Chennai and Dr K Roshiah, the Governor of Tamil Nadu launched the Diamond Jubilee Souvenir of the Institution and also launched Diabetes Control Programme along with Red Cross Society.
EH News Bureau
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