FITTER India Recommendations 2017 released

Vijayawada: To improve diabetes management and insulin therapy, the recommendations of Forum for Injection Technique and Therapy Expert Recommendations (FITTER) for the year 2017 were released on ‘Insulin Injection Day’, by diabetes specialist, Dr Srikanth and BD Medical Diabetes Associate Director, Dr Vanditha Gupta at a private hotel here on Thursday.

Speaking to the media persons, Dr Srikanth said that there were about 71 million diabetic patients in India and post the advent of the insulin injection, the diabetic patients’ life span was extended to another 25 years.

“To lead a peaceful and happy life, a diabetic patient should follow proper insulin techniques. Appropriate injection technique is crucial for successfully managing diabetes through insulin therapy,” he explained. He further added that a fear of needles, inappropriate insulin technique can often cause hard lumps of fat under the skin (lipohypertrophy) or it could result in insulin not being absorbed in the body rightly, which eventually can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and blood glucose fluctuations.

Dr Vandita Gupta, Associate Director, BD Medical- Diabetes Care, said that BD introduced the world's first specialised insulin syringe in 1924, and said that the size of the needle has drastically shortened from 14 mm to 4 mm by expertise on research and development into insulin delivery. She said that the injection technique questionnaire (ITQ) data revealed that patients adapting to newer technologies liked shorter needles to inject insulin.

“One of the principal countries participating in the ITQ was India, with an input of over 1000 patients from 20 centers representing all the major regions of the country,” stated the doctor.