By Krittika Ghosh MSc.

Normally when one writes about health issues, it is usually in conjunction with a particular event such as “Breast cancer awareness month” or “walk against MS”. While these are all worthy causes and events, wouldn’t it be great if we were raised awareness of these issues throughout our every day lives as well as in these once a year event?

United Nations Blue Circle Symbol for Diabetes Mellitus, Source: WikipediaOne of the major health issues that has affected my family has been diabetes. I recognized that my dida (maternal grandmother) had diabetes when at the relatively young age of 55 she passed away due to diabetes related complications, followed by my dadu (maternal grandfather) a few years later. My mom was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was in her early 40’s and living in NYC. I found myself changing roles and trying to reason with my mom whenever we were out to eat and she just had to have that bowl of kheer or gulab jamun (the women in my family are infamous for their sweet tooth)..at the same time, I myself was not eating much healthier than my mom, but I thought “I’m young…this is an old person’s disease…let me enjoy myself while I can”…While family members cautioned me about “not eating too much mishti”, I did not pay much heed. I now realize that perhaps we Bengali’s take diabetes’s association with “sugar” a bit too literally since just eating mishti doesn’t necessarily contribute to the disease.

After college, I immersed myself working for various social justice issues in the South Asian community from domestic violence to post 9/11 hate crimes and workers rights. While I continuously organized immigrant communities to lead a better life, I was not taking care of my own health and working long hours, eating junk food and not getting as much exercise as I needed and at 27 was diagnosed as being “pre-diabetic”. My doctor was about to put me on medication and I reasoned with her to give me a few months to get healthier on my own because I did not want to be taking medication for life.

I cut out carbohydrates (goodbye shaada bhaat), sugar (hello splenda!), and junk food (see ya Mc Donalds!) and hit the gym, and joined weight watchers and managed to get my diabetes under control. But it’s an everyday struggle to eat the right foods, make sure I go to the gym and take care of my physical and emotional health, which is something those of us doing social justice work rarely do.

I have recently joined the Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH) at the NYU School of Medicine as the Project Coordinator for the DREAM Project which is a research project on diabetes in the Bangladeshi community. The Diabetes Research, Education, and Action for Minorities (DREAM Project) is a five-year community based participatory research study. The goal of the project is to develop, implement, and test a Community Health Worker Program designed to improve diabetes control and diabetes-related health complications in the Bangladeshi community in New York City.

According to the WHO, in 2000 Bangladesh had 3,196,000 diabetics, which will increase to 11,140,000 by 2030. The Bangladeshi community is the fastest growing Asian American population in the U.S and NYC has the largest Bangladeshi population (The 2000 Census shows the population at 29,675 in NYC). Unfortunately the rate of diabetes is on rise both in Bangladesh and in the Bangladeshi community in the U.S. Approximately 10% of the diabetic patients in the diabetes clinic in Bellevue Hospital in NY are Bangladeshi.

CSAAH conducted a community health needs assessment survey in the South Asian community with approximately 300 community members. Approximately two-thirds (67%) of South Asian CHNRA respondents had ever been screened for diabetes, and 17% of those screened had been told by health professional that they had diabetes. This rate of diabetes is almost 3 times higher than the rate for Asian Americans living in NYC (6%).

While there has several studies done on diabetes in the Bangladeshi community in the UK, there is not much about the Bangladeshi community in the U.S, perhaps because of the community being much more recent.

I think regardless of our health status, it is really important for us to be aware of the risk signs of diabetes such as the following:

  • increased thirst
  • increased hunger
  • fatigue
  • increased urination, especially at night
  • weight loss
  • blurred vision
  • sores that do not heal

Diabetes is a disease that can be easily controlled and prevented if discovered early. While we all intellectually know the keys to leading a healthy lifestyle: eating healthy, exercising, cutting off stress. It is much more difficult to implement the above in the fast pace lifestyles we lead. Also, diabetes prevention and treatment differs according to ones socioeconomic status (not having the money to buy healthy food, or medication), immigration status (decision to forgo healthcare as a result of being undocumented), and gender (women are slightly more at risk for diabetes in the Bangladeshi community, yet majority of those seeking treatment are men).

I also invite all those Adhunika’s living in New York to join me at a meeting at the NYU School of Medicine on May 15th to find out more about how you can help with the DREAM Project and help prevent the spread of diabetes in our communities.

Krittika Ghosh MSc. is the Project Coordinator of the DREAM project, you can reach her at Krittika.ghosh@nyumc.org

Related link: Adhunika Event