00:00Diabetes is seriously becoming a severe chronic condition all around the world.
00:05We need to discuss diabetes in Africa, where a lot of countries deal with a double disease burden.
00:10Every morning, my mom has to come in with me. I have to see if I'm alive.
00:14Over 2 million people live with diabetes in Ghana.
00:17Out of that number, more than 7% are adults with type 2 diabetes.
00:22Welcome, Isaka. Thank you.
00:30Just before this conversation started, I noticed you were pricking your hand and checking your blood sugar.
00:35How often do you do that?
00:36I usually do that about four to five times in a day.
00:43How long have you been living with diabetes?
00:45I've been living with diabetes for the past 15 years.
00:47So I think 20th October will be my 16th year.
00:52When was the first time you got diagnosed?
00:54That was 2009. That was 20th October.
00:57So I was feeling very weak.
01:00I was having dehydration, always feeling very tired.
01:04I have a very dry skin.
01:06But then within that time, I didn't know I was having diabetes.
01:09I didn't know anything about diabetes.
01:11Neither have my family.
01:12We were in the dark and then just treating myself with sometimes hair bowel,
01:16medication and all that, until I went off one day.
01:23And then I found myself in the hospital at Kolibu.
01:26So when you say you went off one day, what do you mean?
01:29I felt unconscious.
01:30I would visit the washroom for like nine to ten times, just in the night.
01:36I miss school for the whole time.
01:38Diabetes is one of the top four most common non-communicable diseases in the world,
01:43causing illness and death.
01:44And experts have projected the number to increase by 50% in 2045 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
01:50830 people in the world are currently living with diabetes.
01:54And over 75% of them actually live in low and middle income countries like Ghana.
02:00How has it been all these years living with diabetes for you as a person?
02:04I have to check my sugars, that's the FBS, my fasting blood sugar.
02:09And then I correct it.
02:12What do you use to correct it?
02:13If it's low, I correct it with sugars.
02:17And when it's high, I correct it with insulin.
02:20So we have different types of insulin.
02:22Okay.
02:23Mix that, which works for 12 hours.
02:26And then we have a long and then a short actin.
02:28Okay.
02:29Yes.
02:29So we take the long actin that's in the morning and in the evening.
02:35And then we use the short actin for the meals.
02:38Anytime you have to take anything, you have to take the short actin.
02:40The short actin.
02:41Yes.
02:42I eat more vegetables, your medication, and then exercise.
02:52So let's jump straight into the DW Africa community to answer some really important
02:57questions.
02:57Asen Cham from Gambia.
03:00What is the normal range for a random blood glucose test?
03:05If you're using milligram per DL, you're looking for 70 to 140.
03:11That's considered normal.
03:12If you're using millimole per liter, you're using 3.9 to 7.8 as normal.
03:19Alan Kalumba, who is from Uganda, must every diabetic administer insulin shots.
03:26I'm so glad you asked that.
03:27Well, there are two kinds of diabetes.
03:29There is the type one and there's a type two.
03:32For type one, it means that the person is insulin deficient.
03:36So that is the kind of diabetes that requires insulin shots.
03:40If you're a type two diabetic, in other words, your body is just resistant to the
03:45insulin that your body is normally producing, you might not necessarily need insulin.
03:54So what do you usually notice when you're having this hypoglycemia?
03:58You feel shaky, you feel dizzy, you feel confused.
04:05You start to feel like you are not yourself.
04:11Let's share a few facts about diabetes.
04:13The first is that diabetes is not curable.
04:15However, with the right medication and lifestyle changes, it can be properly managed.
04:20If a pregnant woman manages her diabetes properly, she actually stands the chance of having a
04:24very healthy pregnancy.
04:30Who helps you in those difficult times?
04:32My family, especially my mom.
04:34Every morning, my mom has to come and wake me up to see if I'm alive.
04:39Because hypoglycemia really hits in the morning.
04:42How would you help people who are watching this now living with diabetes?
04:47To try and then advocate for themselves, because the awareness in the country is very less.
04:51Thank you, Saka, for sharing this story with us.
04:54And if you're watching this and you know someone who's living with diabetes,
04:58or you are actually living with diabetes, I'm sure there's a lot you've learned today.
05:02Don't hesitate to share this video.
05:04Put in the comment section whatever you think we must have missed out.
05:06And until the next episode, this is Healthy Mean No Cap.
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