ICMR issues country’s first pre-travel guidelines for children and adolescents with Type-1 diabetes

From never wearing brand new shoes for a trip, to travelling with flash cards to navigate language barrier, managing meals when crossing time zones, storage of insulin and how to minimise glucose fluctuation —- all of this and more is part of the Indian Council of Medical Research pre-travel advice and preparation for children and adolescents living with Type-1 diabetes. India has the highest number of incident and prevalent cases of Type-1 diabetes in the world as per recent estimates from the International Diabetes Federation and the Council has now published a comprehensive document providing advice on care of diabetes in children, adolescents and adults with Type 1 diabetes. The new 173-page ICMR guideline document states that individuals with Type-1 diabetes need support to survive, using insulin and other therapies, and to live their entire life without stigma, restrictions, or disabling complications due to their illness. It will be helpful to teach simple phrases like “I have diabetes,” “my sugar in the local language is going down,” “and these are my medications,” and “please give me some juice.” Meals and snacks Being aware of the serving time of meals and snacks and putting a request to serve as per personal schedule to avoid fluctuations in glucose due to perturbed schedule is also advised.