With more than 77 million adults in India living with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation, understanding how seasonal shifts can affect glucose management is becoming increasingly important for maintaining long-term health and avoiding complications. As the rains bring welcome relief from the summer heat, they also usher in a season of unique health challenges, especially for people living with diabetes. Changes in weather, increased humidity, greater susceptibility to infections, and disruptions to daily routines can all influence diabetes management in subtle yet significant ways.
During the rains , maintaining a routine can become harder. Heavy showers can limit outdoor activity, travel disruptions can affect meal times, and changes in food choices or seasonal illnesses can affect glucose levels. Yet these fluctuations may not always be obvious. A glucose reading taken at one point in the day provides useful information for that moment. Still, it may not show how levels change over the course of the day or in response to meals, activity, stress, or illness. “ Diabetes management is gradually evolving from a reactive approach to a more proactive one. For people living with diabetes, a single glucose reading tells us what is happening at one moment. In contrast, continuous glucose monitoring can reveal patterns across the day. Seeing how glucose responds to food, activity, stress, or illness, along with real-time trends and alerts for highs or lows, can give people useful context, particularly when routines change during the monsoon. These insights can support more informed conversations with healthcare professionals and a more personalized approach to diabetes management,” Dr Shalini Jaggi, Consultant Diabetologist & Director, Lifecare Diabetes Center, Kirti Nagar, N Delhi, tells Health Shots .
