india about 509 million people in india suffer from diabetes and this figure is likely to go up to 80 million by 2025 making it the diabetes capital of the world dr sameer dasgupta consultant diabetologist opines that whats more alarming is the fact that for each diagnosed diabetic in india there is one that goes undiagnosed this automatically doubles the figure he adds there are about 380 million people worldwide with prediabetes a condition where the blood glucose level blood sugar level is higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetes prediabetes patients also develop similar cardiac complications as diabetics but more often than not they dont adopt necessary corrective lifestyle modifications to remedy the situationno kidding the frequency of diabetes is escalating around the world and studies indicate that children are at increasing risk of developing the disease over time diabetes can damage the heart blood vessels eyes kidneys and nerves causing chronic problems and early death according to who many countries are recording higher numbers of newly diagnosed cases of type 1 diabetes particularly in younger children recently type 2 diabetes has progressively been reported in children and adolescents so much so that in some parts of the world type 2 diabetes has become the main type of diabetes in children growing incidence of childhood obesity and physical sedentariness are widely believed to play a crucial role dr dasgupta mentions the coordinated efforts of the international diabetes federation idf who and the un who have sent a set of guidelines to governments to adopt legislation against the sale of high sugar content food and drinks to children and in schools ban vendors selling such items in schools and workplaces and to ensure safe and clean drinking water in schools and workplacesnew age medicines even though diabetes can initially be managed by just eating well and being active one will need medication at some point or the other we have come a long way since the 1920s when insulin was first used to treat diabetes there is no magic pill yet but there are numerous options to help control blood sugar levels and more are going to make an appearance making life a little easier for diabetics dr debkripa banerjee diabetologist says these newer drugs prevent the degradation of the cells as opposed to traditional oral hypoglycemic agents the drugs called sglt2 inhibitors target the kidneys to block the reabsorption of sugar increase sugar excretion thereby reducing blood sugar levels they however are not recommended for patients who have severe kidney impairment endstage renal disease or are on dialysishealing the alernate way in ayurveda diabetes is known as madhumeha and is classified as a kapha type of disorder in view of the various side effects of traditional as well as new age diabetes drugs many are turning to ayurveda for natural holistic management of the disease dr debasish pahari ayurvedic expert says there are several herbs that have been found to be very effective in