A Consultant Endocrinologist, Dr. Oluwarotimi Olopade, has urged type 2 diabetes patients who wish to engage in religious fasts to discuss with their doctors long before the start of the fast.
Dr. Olopade’s call came as Christians begin their Lent season. It is also coming ahead of the 2022 Ramadan season during which the Muslims engage in 30-days fasting.
Olopade, who is also a diabetologist with the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, stated that the need for diabetes patients to discuss with their physician is to ascertain if they are qualified for the fast based on their health status, noting that some diabetes patients may have to drop fasting based on their state of health.
The prior discussion, he said, will also enable the physicians to adjust medication for patients that are qualified to engage in fasting to avoid grave effects and other health complications.
Fasting is an important aspect of many religions, but if not done properly, especially by following the advice of physicians, it can lead to severe health complications for persons living with type 2 diabetes, the expert said.
According to the latest data from the International Diabetes Federation, there are 24 million persons living with diabetes in Africa.
The IDF data also noted that Nigeria has 1.7 million persons living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
The complications of unsupervised fasting in persons living with diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes, Olopade said, are high or low sugar levels.
According to the American Heart Association and American Diabetic Association, fasting could be beneficial in the short term to diabetes patients.
They, however, noted that there’s no long-term study that has shown the benefit of intermittent fasting to diabetes management, adding that care must be taken in recommending it without looking at the medical condition of individual patients.
According to Dr. Olopade, type 2 diabetes patients must discuss their fasting plans with their physicians so that their health conditions would not get worse due to the lack of adjustment of their medication in the fasting season.
In his words, “Persons who have type 2 diabetes and wish to engage in religious fasting should discuss their plans of fasting with their doctors or physicians so that their medications are adjusted to meet their needs with established guidelines followed.
“The aim is to arrive at an agreement that will not worsen their health, thus preserving their faith and cultural beliefs.
“My patients, mostly Muslims discuss their desire to partake in Ramadan fast and their medications are adjusted to meet their needs with established guidelines followed.”
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