Love Your Diabetes and it won’t trouble you...

Key to successful management of diabetes is first knowledge about this disease. You should be aware of this disease, how to control it through medicine and diet. Light exercise is of great importance in controlling the diabetes.

Dr.Rachana Rauniyar

Some diseases come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay forever and leave footprints on our heart. So we should try to love such friend of ours...

Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism

in which high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) and high level of sugar in urine (glycosuria) is found. Well if I explain you in simple term, in this disease, the patient has lost his power to utilize the sugar, which the blood takes up from the food. And so the kidneys must eliminate it to prevent the disorders, which would arise from an accumulation of the sugar in the blood.

Many diabetics follow a strict diet pattern for rest of their lives, try pills, herbs etc which are strongly recommended to them by their friends and relatives, who claim to have tried them and appear to be DIABETES FREE without a diet. These silly remedies are claimed to be so potent and effective that urine or blood examinations for sugar are declared to be unnecessary. This happy state continues till suddenly they wake up one night with a complication of diabetes like paralytic strokes, heart problem or blindness. Others may not wake up and pass into coma.

There are many causes of diabetes, but here I am not going to discuss the causes of this disease but I will let u know how to keep it under control and manage it with proper care even though it cannot be cured once it occurs.

The key to successful management of diabetes is first of all the knowledge about this disease, you should be aware of this disease, how to control it through medicine and diet. Our main objective towards diabetes management is to be free from the symptoms of the disease and lead a normal social life.

A mild diabetic can manage his disease with control on his diet alone. A severe diabetic requires dietary control along with insulin. However you manage the disease but regularity, routine and regulation should be strictly followed. Light exercise is of great importance in controlling the diabetes.

Some minute quantities of insulin are also known to be secreted by the muscle tissue for its own use. For this reason moderate amount of muscular exercise like long walks, light swimming, jogging, is recommended. Individuals over 30 years of age or who have had diabetes for 10 years or more should have the physicians’ approval to begin an exercise programme. In the treatment of diabetes, personal hygiene holds a very important place to prevent gangrene, skin irritation and infections. In women skin irritation is particularly noticed around the vulva because of the heavy load of glucose in the urine. These symptoms can be effectively handled with good hygienic care.

A personal identification with the persons name, address, his doctors name, address and telephone number should always be with the patient, especially if he is receiving insulin therapy. It is important to carry a candy or sugar product with him. Now coming to handling your diabetes with diet, the fundamental principle of controlling diabetes through diet is to have only the necessary calories that the body requires. The total calories will vary for each patient. The overweight patient who is required to reduce his weight must have lower calorie diet but on the other hand a markedly underweight patients requires a comparatively high caloric diet. Similarly, a young hardworking person requires much more calories than an elderly sedentary person. It has been found that reduction of body weight alone results in the better functioning in control of diabetes. The caloric requirement of the patients is calculated according to his desirable body weight. It is essential that the diet, which the patient is following, is somewhat like his normal food pattern. The modification in the diet of the patient should not bring drastic changes in his normal meal pattern. This will help to ensure his willing co-operation and there are lesser chances that he would neglect his prescribed diet. Besides, other dietary factors such as methi (fenugreek), karela (bitter gourd) and jamun (blackberry) have been found to help in lowering the blood glucose levels in the diabetics especially those of the older age.Some of the other important tips to the diabetic patients are: Eat starches such as those present in the wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi etc.instead of sugars like sucrose, glucose and fructose present in table sugar, honey, fruits, juices, etc. Use whole pulses like chana, rajma, and soya-bean instead of the split pulses or dals. Soya-bean or gram flour (besan) can be incorporated into the wheat flour (pitho) to make rotis, thus increasing the protein content of the food. Green leafy vegetables and all types of raw vegetables such as cucumber, carrot cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce (salad ko pat), onion, and tomato can be eaten in plenty to fill the stomach. Use such method for cooking, which requires minimum amounts of fat. So eat boiled, steamed and grilled food instead of fried food. Using a non-stick pan reduces the fat consumption.

Fiber-rich foods such as whole grain pulses and raw vegetables should be used instead of refine flours like maida etc. Consumption of fruits and vegetables with their skin on is beneficial. Well my patients often complain of disliking to following to a rigid diet routine, so I being a dietician needs to look into all these aspects carefully and plan the diet to suit the patients needs and make the diet as flexible as possible in order to break the monotony, and at the same time minimizing the side effects of diabetes. Hey diabetics now cheer up. You all are healthier than the normal people, they need sugar to sustain their lives but u can live even without it!

Empowering women through Tourism

By Sangita Nirola

Tourism is the business of providing services to the tourists, which includes marketing, developing new ideas, new destinations and exploring new tourism products. In Nepal, tourism plays an important role in the economy and the overall development of the country. Tourism in Nepal generates an estimated 250,000 jobs and contributes to 4 percent of GDP. Tourism has made a significant contribution in improving Nepal’s economy by increasing employment opportunities and supporting overall development efforts. That is why tourism is characterized as a dynamic sector for sustainable socio-economic activities. The tourism sector is considered to be a key to strengthening the national economy, improving living standards and reducing poverty. It represents 15% of total export earnings and export earnings generated by tourism was expected to grow from US$165 million in 1999/2002 to US$231 million in 2003 . In this scenario women’s involvement in this sector can contribute significant role. In Nepal, tourism can be a key to the success and sustainability of the socio-economic empowerment of women.

As no society can progress without full participation of women and women constitute more than 50 percent of the total population of Nepal and they work on average 12 hours a day while men work only 7 hours ,women can contribute more actively than their male counterparts in domestic and other sectors. Till now economic contributions made by women at the household level and other sectors have not been recognized by society and as a result most Nepalese women suffer from continued unequal power relations with men.

Although it is recognized that the status of women in Nepal has advanced to some extent over the past two decades, the progress achieved so far has been uneven and inadequate. Nepal has now reached a stage in women’s development where the implementation aspects are most crucial and need to be strengthened.

Thus there is an urgent need for an action plan in the spirit of determination, addressing obstacles related to the advancement and providing opportunity to empowerment of women. The main objective of women’s empowerment is to increase women’s active participation in each and every sector. Tourism can play a vital role in this aspect. As per ESP( Enabling State program) finding on women Empowerment, it is recognized that one of the most promising means of women’s empowerment is for women to establish their own enterprises. However many constraints prevent women’s involvement in the male dominated world of business and commerce. These range from women’s lack of economic independence and self confidence to poor marketing facilities and lack of proper training. As tourism is the main sector of the Nepalese economy employing more people directly and indirectly than any other industry in the country, women’s involvement in this field may play a major role towards women’s empowerment. Tourism is also still one of the fastest growing sectors of economic activity. So women’s involvement in the tourism sector should be kept in mind as it is a growing industry and there are many opportunities for women within it.

Eco-tourism has been designated by the Nepal Tourism Board as a development focus area. This concept has pointed to the importance of sustainable village tourism. The role of women in village tourism is arguably one of the most critical as it is the women of the village who provide all the services of the host (such as clean accommodation and food). Therefore in order to ensure quality service for village tourism, the role of women in this respect needs to be thoroughly understood. Tourism in Nepal made a late start in the 1950s, making Nepal a late comer in the world of tourism as an industry. It is difficult to obtain the exact data regarding employment and employees including women in this industry. There are no records stating the extent of women’s involvement over time. There have been no studies done to provide a gender perspective. The National Planning Commission has included tourism as a major sector in the NPC’s five-year-plans. The role of women in this strategy must be ascertained and understood. So there is an urgent need for research which can incorporate the actual figures and facts and show the way for women’s empowerment by maximizing women’s involvement in the tourism sector. The Nepal Tourism Board acknowledges that "gender equity needs to be a central issue in development strategies" for tourism (NTB National Ecotourism Strategy and Marketing Programme of Nepal, Dec. 2001). We should aim to discover the status quo of this situation, that can be effectively achieved.

We should focus on women’s participation in Tourism Sector, their existing status, problems and constraints, future prospect of women entrepreneurs in Tourism Industry, analyzing the existing status of women working in the tourism sector by finding out the qualitative and quantitative participation of women in the sector, identifying the main problem and constraint for women within the sector and while entering the sector, identifying areas to upgrade, and explore newer possibilities ,facilities or services to promote women’s participation in tourism. By developing qualities of female employees we can project future prospects and women’s empowerment through tourism industry to all Nepali women.