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SINGAPORE — Freelance accountant Shashitharen Ambalaka is only 38 but the Singaporean’s life has been upended by diabetes. In the past six years, the chronic disease has robbed him of his right foot, his kidney function and the ability to take part in his favourite sporting activities.
His foot was amputated in 2015 and he suffered a stroke in 2019.
Six months after the stroke, he was diagnosed with diabetes-induced kidney failure.
He now needs dialysis to survive and moves around on a prosthetic foot.
Speaking to TODAY about his condition ahead of World Diabetes Day, which is on Nov 14, Mr Shashitharen hopes that more young adults would pay attention to their health and be aware of the risks of the chronic disease.
“Diabetes is not a joke,” he said. “Even if you feel fine now, it is killing everything inside you. And you just don’t feel it right away.”
Around 14.2 per cent of the adult population here have diabetes, the latest figures by the International Diabetes Federation showed.
Now on thrice-weekly haemodialysis, Mr Shashitharen is among some of the youngest adult patients admitted to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). Haemodialysis cleanses the blood of toxins, extra salt and fluids through a machine.
Diabetes is one of the main causes of kidney failure in Singapore.
Dr Rachel Teo, consultant nephrologist with NKF, said that about two-thirds of the patients on dialysis it sees have kidney failure due to diabetic kidney disease.
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Patients aged 40 and younger make up under 4 per cent of the patients on dialysis at NKF.
Poorly controlled diabetes also increases the risk of stroke.
Mr Shashitharen was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a teenager, after his teachers noticed his drastic weight loss.
Diabetes runs in his family. He has Type 1 diabetes, in which the body produces little or no insulin. By 21, he was prescribed daily insulin jabs.
Being an active youth who took part in sports such as football, basketball and taekwondo at the time, he did not think that it was a serious matter.
“I was young and had so much energy then. Even after I was diagnosed, I continued with my usual diet, eating several portions of rice at every meal.
“Most of the time, I didn’t take my insulin jabs because they felt like a hassle. I wondered why I had to go through all those jabs when I could still play sports as well as my friends.”
A WAKE-UP CALL
After he turned 30, though, he noticed a decline in his health and fitness levels.
From being able to run 10km to 15km easily, he started feeling numbness in his legs and got tired easily.
However, it was not until he lost his right foot at 32 that he said he “woke up”.
During a pilgrimage to India, he developed burn wounds on the sole of his right foot because he had to be barefoot in the temple. He recalled that the daily temperature there was around 40°C to 41°C and the grounds were very hot.
“When I returned home, my foot was already heavily infected and I was running a very high fever.”
The wound would not stop bleeding and could not heal. All of his toes turned black.
Eventually, the top half of his right foot was amputated.
Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...ey-function-and-promising-career-due-diabetes
