Diabetes is a chronic condition that requires people to manage their blood glucose levels daily, for life. How to win over diabetes, Dr. Ambrish Mithal, Chairman and Head of Endocrinology & Diabetes at Max Hospitals shares his advice with Famhealth.

He says that there are two typical responses of people who get detected with diabetes-

One set of people are totally dismissive of their condition. There are no visible symptoms and hence these “escapists” live in denial for the first 2-3 years, they are slow in making the required lifestyle changes.

The other extreme opposite set is those who are exceedingly pro-active, “controllers” who believe they can reverse their condition without medication. For this set, Dr. Ambrish advises caution. He says the danger about sudden, drastic and extreme lifestyle modification is that it is not sustainable in the long run.

Continuing, he says that some people opt to visit “health farms” and get instant control over their sugar levels. Agreeing that a strong focus on discipline and control on self, often results in an immediate impact, this, once again, is a short-term measure, effective for the duration of one’s stay. Upon return to normalcy, old habits of most return as well.

His mantra to win over Diabetes – modify your lifestyle slowly and gradually till you hit your peak in controlling your blood glucose levels. This is a “practical, realistic and a pragmatic approach”.

He says, Diabetes is not an “acute” disease such as Malaria, and the better way of dealing with it is to make slow but permanent changes in one’s day-to-day life. This will help manage the condition effectively without disrupting one’s professional or personal life.