Caption: Dr. Pramod Tripathi, Founder, Freedom From Diabetes
Mumbai, August 6: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the non-communicable diseases that have recently drawn a lot of attention from policymakers and health professionals along with the public. Earlier, diabetes was considered specific to the elderly population but now a gradual increase in its incidence in the younger population has been observed. The transition of lifestyle and dietary patterns into a comparatively sedentary lifestyle and increased consumption of processed food respectively have given rise to several health problems of which diabetes is the one with bigger concern.
The highest increase in the number of patients suffering from DM is reported in China followed by India among developing economies. According to the International Diabetes Federation prevalence of DM is 8.8% among people aged 20-79 yrs. A prevalence rate of as high as 25.2% is also reported in New Delhi in 2015. Medical treatment consists of drugs like metformin or sulphonylureas which aim towards controlling the blood sugar levels but none of these causes’ reversal of the disease. The global expenditure for this disease has increased to $ 727 in 2017 from $ 232 in 2006 among patients aged 20-79 years. The cost of treatment will continue to increase if we will follow the present treatment regimens. Hence, the need of the hour is to concentrate on the reversal of diabetes by lifestyle interventions.
With the help of its Intensive Reversal Program (IRP), Freedom From Diabetes has helped 10,000 diabetics to live a normal life without any medications and aims to touch 100,000 patients by 2025. So far, around 23,000 patients have enrolled in the program of which 13,000 have enrolled since January 2020. Of the 10,054 participants who have become free of all diabetes medications including insulin, around 6,400 have become free in the last 1.5 years. Following are the detailed statistics of the 10000+ participants who have become free.
Dr. Pramod Tripathi, Founder, Freedom From Diabetes, said “Making 100,000 people free of diabetes medicines and insulin is a goal which I’ve been working on for the last 8 years. It is great to see the movement reaping real results and gaining ground with every passing year.” Further, he added that over the years we have mastered the science of sustainable behavior change which is crucial in lifestyle diseases like diabetes. At FFD we follow a ‘Hi-Touch, Hi Tech’ approach where we are constantly innovating on how sustainable behavioral change with practice and support systems like group therapy, inner transformation, learned optimism practice, identity change supported by mentors, doctors, dieticians, exercise experts, psychologists, and the latest technology can help in achieving the ultimate goal of reversal.
The majority of the participants were males (66%). Sixty percent of the participants were in the 40-60 years age group. Ninety-five percent of the participants who became free were Type 2 diabetics. The average number of consultations taken was 3.
In relation to BMI status, at the start, around 60% of the participants were above 25 BMI which comes under the overweight and obese (>30 BMI) categories. In the end, only 36% of the participants remained in this category.
FREEDOM STATUS
While the majority (75%) of the participants were only on diabetes medicine (Oral hypoglycaemic agents- OHA), 23% were on both medicine and insulin, and 2% were only on Insulin. The average duration of insulin use was 5.6 years while the average medicine duration was 10 years.
About FFD:
FFD was founded in 2013 by Dr. Pramod Tripathi who holds an MBBS degree, a Diploma in Diabetes Management, and a slew of qualifications in healing practices, Advanced Yoga & Ayurveda, Pranic healing, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) among others. FFD’s research and development papers have been published in reputed medical journals.
Moreover, FFD has a cloud-based app called the ‘FFD App’ where users input their blood sugar readings, BP, etc. for personalized monitoring by the team. Besides, patient-specific diet and exercises are also uploaded regularly on the app.FFD is also well-known for its weight loss program by Dr. Malhar Ganla who is FFD’s, Chief Innovation Officer. He is a specialist in Obesity Science from Auckland, New Zealand, and heads the obesity as well as diabesity aspects of the IRP. FFD also shares free knowledge about Diabetes and other health conditions on its website, Facebook and Instagram pages, and YouTube channel. It also organizes free sessions for enlightening diabetic patients.
Website: https://www.freedomfromdiabetes.org/
Phone: +91 77760 77760
Its Wow Wednesday series, which has been running for several months now, is live-streamed on its Facebook and YouTube channels. Diabetic or not, everyone can benefit from their programs. FFD has a vibrant athlete community where 3000+ former diabetics now regularly perform athletic feats well beyond their wildest imaginations!
