If you have any form of tuberculosis, you might want to think twice before you eat a large plate of rice or even take a sugar-coated pill.
According to the findings of a study conducted by MV Hospital for diabetes, almost half the people who are undergoing treatment for TB in the city have either diabetes or pre-diabetes.
While diabetes by itself is fairly common in Tamil Nadu and India, (10.4 per cent are diabetic and 8.3 per cent are pre-diabetic in TN), the fact is, diabetes may well aggravate and worsen the tuberculosis, making it drug resistant. Says Dr Vijay Viswanathan, MD - MV Hospital, “There are a host of issues that diabetes brings to TB patients - relapse, recurrence and death are the most important. We believe that it may also make people turn drug-resistant to TB medicine, so it is a huge risk.”
The team tested and documented 827 TB patients from five TB units in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur between January and March last year. After the tests for diabetes mellitus returned, they were shocked to find that 25.3 per cent of them had diabetes and 24.5 per cent had pre-diabetes, which was a precursor to the dreaded disease.
Considering the average age of those surveyed was a sprightly 41, this has raised serious concerns about whether TB mortality is linked to patients diabetes.
So what is the way forward? “While the government has excellent systems in place for fighting TB and diabetes separately, the tests for either are mutually exclusive,” explains Dr Vijay, indicating that a person can receive treatment for TB without having any idea about the diabetes killing him from within.
“Almost 48 per cent of the people we found to be diabetic realised that they had the disease only because of our testing,” he reveals. Perhaps, TB diagnosis will also come with a mandatory test for diabetes to ensure that both conditions can be treated easily, he adds. Till then, MV Hospital has announced that they will offer free diabetes testing for everyone who has a confirmed diagnosis of TB.
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