Sometimes, even a little chat can save lives

I had taken her 3-year-old daughter to her. She played with her teddy, munched cookies and tried to wake her mother. The child did not know that her mother8217;s blood pressure was dropping to dangerously low levels, her kidney cells were dead and her brain dying. Her mother8217;s fault. She had ignored her physician8217;s warning that in her type of diabetes, she would die without insulin therapy.

Or may be it was not her fault after all. Perhaps her doctor did not emphasize it enough. Instead of insulin, she took an untested alternative therapy, till her blood sugar reached 500 mg per cent and her blood and brain were filled with acids.

She came with her daughter and husband the other day, clearly enjoying life. Her daughter is now a bright 13-yr-old, doing well in studies. She has even learnt to take care of her mother, doing blood sugar profiling, and giving insulin shots.

What did we do for her mother8217;s health? Appears like nothing much. Except the needful to prevent further incidents.

After she recovered from her coma 10 years ago, I spent about 30 minutes to explain diabetes to her and emphasied, in no uncertain terms, the importance of not missing a single dose of insulin. She never did. Only 30 minutes of education saved three lives.

Dr Anoop Misra, Director, Diabetes and Metabolism, Fortis Hospitals, Delhi. email: anoopmisragmail.com