Mobile phone texting can prevent a high-risk person from getting diabetes, says a study published in a recent medical journal.
The study involved 537 men aged 35 to 55 years across India who were at high risk of developing diabetes and were followed up for two years. Dr Sudhindra Kulkarni, consultant endocrinologist of Fortis Hospital, said: “It definitely improves patient compliance. I have seen that in my patients.”
The researchers prepared 60 to 80 messages for each stage and these were delivered cyclically, diminishing the possibility of receiving the same message twice in six months.
‘Exercise regularly’, ‘Get off the bus one or two stops ahead and walk to your destination’, ‘Eat fruits instead of drinking juice’ and ‘Don’t snack while watching TV, you may overeat’ are some of the messages which the target group received.
The researchers wanted to investigate whether mobile phones could be used to spread lifestyle messages effectively because traditional lifestyle-modification programmes are often labour-intensive. The study was funded by the UK India Education and Research Initiative and the World Diabetes Foundation.
Dr Manoj Chawla, consultant diabetologist at Asian Heart Hospital, said: “The benefits of mobile phones are huge. One can set reminders, use health apps and try to bring discipline in one’s lifestyle.”
Experts said targeted text messaging intervention could also be used to prevent other lifestyle-related, non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and obesity, and to improve chronic care in diabetes and hypertension. “The challenge was to identify the group to whom the messages should be sent,” said Dr Chawla.
Dr Kulkarni said people have a tendency to forget little but important things related to health. “Many people forget to take medicines. Timely messages by relatives makes a huge impact,” said Dr Kulkarni.
Traditional cure
A pilot study by Dr Hemraj Chandalia, Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India, demonstrates that early intervention with methi powder and yoga in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) can significantly reduce the number of those patients who subsequently develop type 2 diabetes. The organisation is now conducting a nationwide study for which it has received grants from international agencies doing research on diabetes.
At your fingertips
Eat fruits, instead of drinking juice
Don’t snack while watching television
Exercise regularly
Get off the bus one or two stops before destination
Targeted text messaging intervention can prevent many lifestyle diseases
Text messaging can be effective in fighting obesity as well
In numbers
In India there are more than 61 million people who have diabetes and more than 545 million
have mobile phones
The study involved 537 men aged 35 to 55 years across India who were at high risk of developing diabetes and were followed up for two years. Dr Sudhindra Kulkarni, consultant endocrinologist of Fortis Hospital, said: “It definitely improves patient compliance. I have seen that in my patients.”
The researchers prepared 60 to 80 messages for each stage and these were delivered cyclically, diminishing the possibility of receiving the same message twice in six months.
‘Exercise regularly’, ‘Get off the bus one or two stops ahead and walk to your destination’, ‘Eat fruits instead of drinking juice’ and ‘Don’t snack while watching TV, you may overeat’ are some of the messages which the target group received.
The researchers wanted to investigate whether mobile phones could be used to spread lifestyle messages effectively because traditional lifestyle-modification programmes are often labour-intensive. The study was funded by the UK India Education and Research Initiative and the World Diabetes Foundation.
Dr Manoj Chawla, consultant diabetologist at Asian Heart Hospital, said: “The benefits of mobile phones are huge. One can set reminders, use health apps and try to bring discipline in one’s lifestyle.”
Experts said targeted text messaging intervention could also be used to prevent other lifestyle-related, non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and obesity, and to improve chronic care in diabetes and hypertension. “The challenge was to identify the group to whom the messages should be sent,” said Dr Chawla.
Dr Kulkarni said people have a tendency to forget little but important things related to health. “Many people forget to take medicines. Timely messages by relatives makes a huge impact,” said Dr Kulkarni.
Traditional cure
A pilot study by Dr Hemraj Chandalia, Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India, demonstrates that early intervention with methi powder and yoga in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) can significantly reduce the number of those patients who subsequently develop type 2 diabetes. The organisation is now conducting a nationwide study for which it has received grants from international agencies doing research on diabetes.
At your fingertips
Eat fruits, instead of drinking juice
Don’t snack while watching television
Exercise regularly
Get off the bus one or two stops before destination
Targeted text messaging intervention can prevent many lifestyle diseases
Text messaging can be effective in fighting obesity as well
In numbers
In India there are more than 61 million people who have diabetes and more than 545 million
have mobile phones
No comments:
Post a Comment