As reported by the media last week, at least 136 million people or 15.3 per cent of the population have pre-diabetes. A pre-diabetic is a person who has higher-than-normal blood sugar level but not high enough to fall into the category of type 2 diabetes. Pre-diabetic individuals need not become diabetic, provided they follow a healthy diet and exercise routine. Hypertension, high cholesterol levels and obesity are other determining factors that could lead to cardiac arrest, stroke and kidney disease. The survey indicates that at least 35.5 per cent of the population has hypertension and 81.2 per cent have abnormal levels of cholesterol or dyslipidemia. Around 28.6 per cent have generalised obesity and 39.5 per cent were found to have abdominal obesity.
In normal situations, the blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin lowers the blood glucose level. Both women and men are susceptible to diabetes...