{"id":4702,"date":"2010-06-07T11:34:36","date_gmt":"2010-06-07T11:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2010\/06\/07\/beating-the-paratha\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T12:39:06","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T12:39:06","slug":"beating-the-paratha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2010\/06\/07\/beating-the-paratha\/","title":{"rendered":"Beating the Paratha!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

How Birmingham grandfather cut the booze and Paratha to beat diabetes<\/h3>\n
\"\"WALKING a few miles every day and cutting out regular trips to the pub was a small price to pay for Satnam Gill when he was told he had Type 2 diabetes.<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Like many people of South-Asian descent, Satnam had been unaware he was in an ethnic group for whom the risk of Type 2 diabetes is four to five times higher than it is for people with European family origins.<\/div>\n

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But thanks to determination, good health advice and an education programme specially tailored for the cultural and language needs of South Asian communities, Satnam made small changes to his daily routine and diet that have paid big dividends for his continuing health.<\/div>\n

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Doctors believe that the main reason for high diabetes rates among people of Asian descent is genetic but that the problem is exacerbated by a high fat diet, a relative lack of exercise and generally low awareness of the increased risk.<\/div>\n

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Like many sufferers, Satnam was unaware that he had diabetes. It was only after the 61-year-old received a letter from his GP practice a couple of years ago that he took the steps that led to a diagnosis.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe letter explained that Asian people are more prone to diabetes than others and invited me to the health centre for a check-up,\u201d said the father-of-three and grandfather-of-six, who lives in Moseley.<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt had never occurred to me that I might have diabetes \u2013 I just didn\u2019t know enough about it to be concerned. It was one of those things where you just think \u2018it\u2019ll never happen to me\u2019.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I thought I had nothing to lose by going for the check-up so I went along. It was quite a surprise when the nurse told me I had Type 2 diabetes.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Like many people who discover later in life that they have diabetes, Satnam realised there had been signs which he had not realised were symptoms of the condition.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI have suffered from blurred vision for a number of years \u2013 especially in very bright light. But I didn\u2019t have any idea that it was a symptom of diabetes.<\/div>\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s why education is so important \u2013 giving Asian people the chance to find out what the signs of diabetes are and what they can do to reduce the health risks.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Satnam was determined to do whatever he could to change his lifestyle so that he could cope independently with the condition.<\/div>\n

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He immediately began to walk three or four miles a day, quickly losing around five kg. He cut out regular trips to the pub and tots of whisky at home. And he was disciplined about changing his diet, reducing the fat content of his traditional Asian meals and cutting out butter-heavy favourites like parotas.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

And Satnam attended two diabetes education sessions that had been specially set up for Asian people who were newly-diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Delivered for the community\u2019s convenience at Hall Green Health, a translator was on hand to make sure that participants for whom English was not their first language were able to fully understand.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The sessions tailor the successful DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) programme and are available in English with key instructions translated into Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati and Punjabi.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it very useful, especially the advice about diet,\u201d says Satnam.<\/div>\n

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\u201cI wish I had known a lot of what I\u2019ve learnt much earlier because the changes I\u2019ve made to my diet have not been a problem for me.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to have two sugars in tea, now I have none. I used to like a beer and a whisky but I\u2019ve cut out alcohol almost completely and don\u2019t really miss it. And my wife has found ways to reduce the fat content of our meals and they still taste just as good.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very grateful for all the support I\u2019ve received and it\u2019s excellent that the advice is being made available in the community \u2013 even in gurdwaras, mosques and other places of worship where many people meet and discuss things.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wish that I\u2019d found out what I know about diabetes now many years earlier.\u201d <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The South Asian community DESMOND programme is run by South Birmingham Community Health. Diabetes nurse Elaine Boylan, said: \u201cWe take great care to deliver services that are accessible and responsive to the needs of all the communities we serve.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of South Asian descent are considerably more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than other demographic groups and so we are very pleased to offer this education programme that is tailored for the needs of those communities.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe initial diagnosis of diabetes can be quite a daunting moment. But with the right education and support, most people find it quite manageable as part of their daily routine. That\u2019s what this programme aims to help people achieve.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Anyone of South Asian descent who is registered with a South Birmingham GP and would like to participate in this DESMOND programme or would like more information about it, should call the South Birmingham Community Health diabetes team on 0121 442 3527 or ask their GP for a referral.<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Birmingham grandfather cut the booze and Paratha to beat diabetes WALKING a few miles every day and cutting out regular trips to the pub was a small price to pay for Satnam Gill when he was told he had Type 2 diabetes. Like many people of South-Asian descent, Satnam had been unaware he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}