Maintaining health is a must for the society because people can keep their activities and be productive. Concerning with community health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FKIK) of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) conducted a workshop on Diabetic Self-Management Education on Friday (11/7) in Kampung Jatimas Gamping D.I. Yogyakarta. The workshop aimed to enrich people’s knowledge and awareness of diabetes. This workshop was participated by 30 heath service posts (Posyandu), health cadres, family, and also diabetic patients.
Head of the community service Dra. Yoni Astuti, M.Kes., PhD. stated that people play important roles in raising peoples’ awareness of diabetes. “The society needs to contribute to how to manage diabetes through both prevention and knowing the effects of diabetes itself. The training and education on managing diabetes will be carried out regularly,” stated Yoni when delivering a speech.
Yoni added that people should give more attention on diabetes by either enhancing self-awareness or having consultation with a doctor. “From this training, I would like to observe the development of participants every week, and to hold discussions on diabetes. I will make a guidebook about diabetes comprehensively based on the training results. Thus, mothers can possess better understanding of diabetes and are expected to be a source of information for both families and other people,” she said.
Meanwhile, a training speaker Dr. Iman Permana, Ph.D. conveyed that diabetes must be prevented with self-awareness and proactive consultation. “”When people have already suffered from diabetes, their organs such as pancreas, kidneys, immune system (immune), nerves, and arteriosclerosis (blood vessels) can be damaged. If complications arise, it will also affect other body organs such as brain, hearing and sight,” explained Imam.
Imam inserted that the most dangerous condition is that the sugar level in our body decreases, because it will cause nausea, vomiting, and even fainting. “It should be noted that, if the blood sugar level rises, it will increasingly affect the immune system as the patient is easy to feel tired, weak, and drowsy while doing daily activities. In addition, patients will also often urinate, feel excessive thirst, and lose weight drastically. Thus, people should be concerned about the impacts of diabetes,” he emphasized.
Imam also informed that there are two types of diabetics. “The first diabetics are due to heredity and damage of pancreas experienced from birth. Therefore, this requires the patients to perform treatment from the beginning, and this type of diabetes is not caused from a bad lifestyle. Secondly, as you get older especially at the age of 40 years and over, a person will be easier to get diabetes. Indeed, 80 percent of diabetes cases are also caused by high fat content that will block the entry of Insulin. Then, we must take into account the balance of immune system such as controlling glucose and sugar levels that enter our bodies,” he asserted.
Furthermore, Imam maintained there are several steps that must be considered to prevent and control diabetes in the long term. “We need to pay attention on a good diet, exercise (physical activity), education (knowledge), drugs consumption, and less overthinking. I hope that this training could be done routinely and people can care more about diabetes as well as become a pioneer of health in Jatimas village,” he ended.
