DIABETES is a serious and debilitating disease that affects approximately 400 million people worldwide. Statistics released earlier this month, in recognition of Diabetes Awareness Month, revealed that nearly 500,000 Jamaicans are affected by the condition.

Consultant endocrinologist at the Tropical Medicine Research Institute at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Dr Michael Boyne told the Jamaica Observer that the Jamaican situation, though not worse off than any other country globally, is very bad.

“Depending on the estimate, we have as few as quarter million people with diabetes or as much as half a million people with diabetes… Either way, it is a lot of people for a small country with fewer than three million people,” explained Dr Boyne.

Of that number, Dr Boyne said, unfortunately, quite a few do not know that they have diabetes.

“As a matter of fact, we estimate that the (diabetic) person has had some evidence of diabetes for four to seven years before they actually are diagnosed with it,” Dr Boyne disclosed. “So that allows for a long time for damage to be done, because they are untreated for that long period of time.”

He stressed that this is why people, especially those over 45 years old, are encouraged to get a diabetes test, so the condition can be detected early and treatment begin before damage occurs.

“By the time (some) people are diagnosed, maybe about 20 per cent of them may have diabetic complications – nerve damage, eye damage, kidney damage, heart disease, so that’s why we like to screen early,” explained Dr Boyne.

Though the figures appear daunting, additional cases of diabetes can be prevented if people adopt a healthy lifestyle, which includes modifying diets and getting adequate exercise.

Dr Boyne explained the impact of diabetes on the body’s organs.

“Even though I have pointed out complications with the eyes, kidneys and nerves, which are the most commonly listed complications, the sugar in the bloodstream goes to every part of the body,” Dr Boyne shared. “It goes to your ears, so you have hearing problems; it goes to the skin, so they have more skin problems.

“They have more gum disease and dental disease, so it’s really every part of your body that can be affected by the effects of diabetes,” Dr Boyne continued.

The endocrinologist explained that diabetes can also affect a person’s smell and taste.

“It can cause more infections in the mouth so they have more cavities… It can affect the nerves in the hands and the feet,” said Dr Boyne. “It can affect the heart and cause either heart attack or heart failure. It can affect the liver, causes what we call fatty liver and then eventually cirrhosis of the liver. It affects the kidneys, causing kidney damage.”

Diabetes, according to Dr Boyne, can also affect the sex organs.

“It affects the sex organs, so men have erectile problems, their libido, sex drive, is low. It can cause fertility issues in women,” Dr Boyne went on, adding that diabetes can cause a variety of rashes as well.

Then there is circulation in the legs, which can eventually result in amputation.

According to the National Health Fund, if diabetics improve their body’s use of insulin, this can prevent further damage to the vital organs of the body.