“Diabetes is one of the most common causes of liver damage worldwide.
advertisementUnfortunately, liver damage presents itself with very few early symptoms.
Pain in the abdomen, poor appetite or jaundice are usually when liver damage gets reported in a clinical setting.
This is a skin condition called Acanthosis Nigricans (AN), which shows itself as thickening, dark pigmentation and a velvety appearance of the skin.
This skin condition is a sign that the person has a high risk of liver cell damage and one should immediately go see a doctor.
With the growing number of diabetics in India, many doctors have been concerned about the impact of this condition on other organs, most specifically the liver. While it is fairly well known that complications from diabetes can impact the eye, kidney, hands, feet and nerves, the liver is one of the most commonly, and yet largely misunderstood, organ to suffer in diabetics.
“Diabetes is one of the most common causes of liver damage worldwide. It happens due to accumulation of fat in the liver, which progressively damages the liver. Poor diet, physical inactivity, obesity all add to it,” says Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis-C-DOC Centre of Excellence for Diabetes, Metabolic Diseases and Endocrinology.
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Unfortunately, liver damage presents itself with very few early symptoms. Pain in the abdomen, poor appetite or jaundice are usually when liver damage gets reported in a clinical setting. To address this, researchers from Fortis C-Doc Hospital for Diabetes and Allied Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Diabetes Foundation (India), and National Diabetes Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation (NDOC) have come up with an early marker for liver damage in those with Type 2 diabetes.
This is a skin condition called Acanthosis Nigricans (AN), which shows itself as thickening, dark pigmentation and a velvety appearance of the skin. It is usually found at the base of the neck but it can also turn up in the armpit, elbows, knees and groin. This skin condition is a sign that the person has a high risk of liver cell damage and one should immediately go see a doctor.
According to a recent ICMR-INDIAB study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the number of people with diabetes in India now stands at 101 million. There are another 136 million people with pre-diabetes. “Poor blood sugar control is defined as any glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) concentration of > 7 % or more. About two-thirds of diabetics in India have HbA1C more than 8%. Adverse effects of diabetes are not only due to high blood sugar, but also due to accompanying obesity, high cholesterol, hypertension and uric acid levels,” adds Dr Mishra.
Dr Mishra says the two biggest mistakes diabetics make are “poor compliance with diet and exercise”. “Also, many people leave medicines to go for alternative therapy,” he adds. One of the reasons for people choosing either or both these actions in response to their diagnosis is poor awareness on how mismanagement of diabetes can harm the quality of their life and other organs.
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Published By: Shyam Balasubramanian Published On: May 7, 2024
