17/06/2025

LYFE TUESDAY | JUNE 17, 2025

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GYNAE SAYS

Between 25 to 30% of the adult population in Malaysia suffer from diabetes.

B ASED on the National Morbidity Survey, the adult population in Malaysia is relatively unhealthy with many suffering from Non Communicable Diseases, including diabetes mellitus. The incidence is between 25–30% in the adult population. The incidence is considered very high, so it is likely that a higher percentage of women will be suffering from gestational diabetes. It usually occurs to women who are already diabetic, but most of them do not know they have the condition unless tested. A larger group are women who become diabetic during pregnancy due to hormones making their sugar intolerance higher. So, how can you if figure out you are diabetic, especially during your pregnancy? For starters, it is advisable to get tested once the vomiting has stopped, after 14 weeks of pregnancy. If you have been tested for gestational diabetes previously, the test should be carried out between 24–28 weeks of pregnancy. To confirm if you have diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes, the Modified Glucose Tolerance Test is the best one out there. But before the test, the pregnant ladies are required to fast overnight – for at least 10 hours. After that, a fasting blood sugar test is taken. Then a sweet glucose drink is given to the pregnant ladies with a follow up blood sugar test after two hours. But if you are prone to vomiting, you would regurgitate the sugar drink – which may disrupt the test. In Malaysia, due to the abundance of food and restaurants open 24 hours daily, our dietary habits are irregular and most of the time, not healthy. Diet control is key Diet control is the first step in managing your diabetes. Getting the advice of a local dietician would help one come up with a working diet plan. The key is: taking regular meals. Fruits and vegetables are a good source of protein. You should reduce the intake of carbohydrate, such as rice, noodles and bread. Minimising the intake of sugary drinks and snacks will improve your diet. Beverages such as gassy drinks, coffees and teas with condensed milk, and bubble teas are incredibly disruptive to your health. These drinks with very high load of sugar will spikes the sugar level, making it hard to

control diabetes. However controlling one’s diet can be challeging, a personal advise is to take Medical Nutritional Theraphy. Another way is exercise, but not to overdo it. You can either follow the pregnancy execises recommend by legit, legal website or you could walk for about 30–45 minutes daily – which is easily carried out at home and it can be adjusted to your individual health condition. Most pregnant women with diabetes will be monitored by their doctor via blood tests taken four to seven times a day, depending on type of diabetes and the severity of the disease. The recommended tests are: fasting blood sugar test and three tests, taken two hours after each meal of breakfast, lunch and dinner. If your results are abnormal, you will be required to undergo treatment. There are two forms of treatment. First, oral tablets of metformin, best for Am I too sweet?

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables is recommended to control incidences of diabetes.

o How to tackle threat of gestational diabetes

IT is never too late to make a splash, as Orestes Quintana, one of the doyens of the Juventud Acumulada (Forever Young) swimming club in Cuba’s capital Havana discovered. The 87-year-old former revolutionary, who helped Fidel Castro fight his way to victory over a dictatorship in 1959, took up swimming relatively late in life – in his 60s. Before that, “I knew how to float, I used to bob about in the water like everyone else but I did not know the different strokes,” the silver-haired ex-soldier said. Now, he spends a two hours a day cleaving through the aquamarine waters of the Caribbean and has a bunch of amateur swimming titles to his name. “I have almost no challengers. In my age category, very few people know how to swim,” he confided with a smile. Lazaro Diaz, 75, was also a pensioner when he learnt to swim as a panacea for a weak heart and recurring back pain. “I was starting to feel the effects of ageing. In the water I don’t feel (any pain),” said Diaz, who undertakes a 6km round trip from home every day to get in his vivifying 400m swim. Juventud Acumulada operates out of one of a string of leisure centres built for the Cuban elite along the coast west of Havana between the 1930s and 1950s. The centres were later nationalised by Castro’s communist government and milder diabetes especially for those who have high fasting sugar levels. The next option is insulin injections. Your doctor will advise on the type of insulin that would be suitable for you, based on your results and control with the medication. You would still need to be closely monitored with your sugar level results to ensure your safety and the baby. You may need regular follow-ups. Your doctor will advise on your mode and date of delivery as each patient needs individualised schedule catered to their condition. In short, take care of your diet and exercise regularly to reduce the likelihood of a complicated pregnancy and dependency on medication for diabetes. This applies to everyone, pregnant or not. This article is contributed by consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist, maternal fetal medicine Datuk Dr H. Krishna Kumar.

Most pregnant women with diabetes will be monitored by their doctor via blood tests. – PICS FROM PEXELS

Cuban seniors defy ageing by diving in sea

transformed into “workers’ social circles” or CSOs. The glamour of the Otto Parellada CSO, named after a young rebel killed fighting the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship, has long since been eroded by the elements and successive economic crises. The pale green paint on the club house is peeling. And, the ladder that once led from the pier to the water was swept away by a hurricane, meaning swimmers now have to negotiate a slippery sea wall. But the bronzed elder statesmen and -women of swimming remain undaunted. Juventud Acumulada was founded by a local amateur swimming champion Ramon Cordoves, who honed his technique by reading tips from legendary Romanian-born American Olympian and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller. The club is now open to swimmers of all ages but is most closely associated with its old-timers, who fly its colours at competitions across the island. Its oldest member Maria Antonia Cendoya recently took gold in a 50m race at the tender age of 88. At a time when Europeans are going crazy for wild swimming in lakes, lochs and oceans, Quintana summed up the benefits of a dip in the sea as a wholesome experience. “The sea rejuvenates you, gives you energy, makes you happy and relieves stress. The sea is wonderful.” – AFP

Fernando Paneque, 84, a member of the Juventud Acumulada swimming club, swims in Havana. – AFPPIC