An Indian research foundation is working alongside the Imperial College London and Cambridge University to study the benefits of using text messages to motivate people at risk of diabetes to adopt a positive lifestyle change.
People globally recognise November 14 as World Diabetes Day (WDD) with a variety of events. The team at the India Diabetes Research Foundation held their own event at Dr.A. Ramachandran’s Diabetes Hospital to raise awareness of the latest project ahead of WDD. It has been conducting a simultaneous study of 500 pre-diabetic patients in India and the UK, looking at the effects of communication, reports thehindu.com.
Research published last year revealed that regular communication with male pre-diabetic patients reduced the chances of them developing diabetes by 36 per cent. Now the study plans to widen the project looking across gender and ethnicities to see if the medium of SMS could be useful, notes todayhealthchannel.com.
Speaking at the function on Sunday (November 9), Governor K. Rosaiah said: “In India, 65 million people live with diabetes, and it is predicted to increase to more than 100 million by 2030.
“With over 77 million people in India diagnosed with pre-diabetes, strong strategies and networking with medical fraternity and voluntary organization is necessary”.
The three year study is nearing completion and it’s hoped the results will be available next year.
