By IANS
Kolkata : High stress factor and long working hours have contributed to prevalence of diabetes among the Kolkata Police personnel, says a study conducted by Diabetic Association of West Bengal.
The study that examined 2,160 cops, aged between 20 and 60 years, puts the prevalence rate of the disease in the police department around 12 percent.
Additionally, it also shows that over six percent personnel suffer from fasting glycemia, a pre-diabetic state. These patients are also at a high risk of developing diabetes in near, says the study.
The study also reveals that over 40 percent police personnel have high blood pressure, and most of them are obese, which is also a common cause of diabetes.
“This has become a major concern for us in the police force. The prevalence of diabetes has shot primarily because of stress factor and the tight schedule. The fast lifestyle is another reason for the development of the disease,” Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohon Chakraborty told IANS.
He said the department regularly conducts health check ups of the cops, focusing on lifestyle diseases like diabetes.
“The study would help us to detect the disease among the force. It would also help us to zero in on the particular departments in the Kolkata Police where the percentage of diabetes is high,” Chakraborty said, adding he would look into the study to take precautionary measures in the days to come.
“The study, started in 2005, was significant as it indicates the growing percentage of diabetes among the police personnel. We targeted the city police, which is a sizeable part of our society, for our study so that we would be able to track them in future, if necessary,” said Subhankar Chowdhury, vice-president Diabetic Association of West Bengal and head of the department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of S.S.K.M. Hospital.
Diabetes among the Kolkata Police is extremely high (about 17 percent) above the age group of 40 while it is only five percent below it, he said.
Diabetes has become a global scare especially in the countries like India, China and the US that prompted the UN General Assembly in Dec 20, 2006, to pass a landmark resolution recognising diabetes as a chronic, debilitating and costly disease.
Today, there are more than 240 million people with diabetes all over the world and this figure is expected to cross 300 million by 2030. India had 31.7 million people with diabetes in 2000 and by 2030 this figure is projected to touch almost 80 million.