Dr. Unnikrishnan Gopalakrishnan – Guest Editor for Jul 2021
I am delighted to be the Guest Editor for Metabolic Health Digest’s July 2021 issue. Evidence from literature suggests that obesity is a rising health epidemic and the prevalence is likely to rise three-fold in the period between 2010-2040. While obesity does lead to several complications, it has been established that weight loss helps reduce complications and enhance glycaemic control in patients with diabetes.
In this issue, we cover highlights from the recently concluded scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association, which includes some path breaking data on technologies in diabetes, GLP1 CVOT & the much awaited GRADE results. Besides, I am featuring three case studies in this month’s issue. Hirata’s Disease which is a rare case in hypoglycemia was observed in a 70 year old female. The case highlights the importance of alpha glucosidase and steroids along with dietary modification with a higher emphasis on proteins to reduce psychological issues. Another case study dealt with DPP-4 inhibitors becoming an increasingly firmly established class of oral anti-diabetic agents for the treatment of Type-2 Diabetes. This case highlights skin reactions as the common and lesser known side effect of these drugs. Lastly, the third case study highlighted the cons of excessive management of diabetes. Multiple daily injections may become very tedious for an old patient with advanced diabetes complications or limited functional status and hence the treatment protocol must be simplified.
I hope you enjoy this edition; happy reading!
Dr. Unnikrishnan Ambika Gopalakrishnan