Marriage And Diabetes

Dr Unnikrishnan AG discusses three marriages that kept their vow ‘in sickness and in health’.

- Dr Unnikrishnan AG

Introduction

Can people with Diabetes get married? This is a question that burns in the mind of every young person with Diabetes, whether it is a 14 year old adolescent or a 25 year old professional. The reason for this worry can be easily explained. Most of the people harbouring such worries are either insulin-dependent or have Type 1 Diabetes.

These patients fear that they will transmit the disease to the progeny. In addition, they fear a quality of life that is so dangerous that they find it difficult to imagine the future care of their spouse and children. They feel that once they develop blindness or kidney disease, they will no longer be able to care for their families. Last, but not the least is the unspoken fear of sexual dysfunction. It is well-known that long standing, uncontrolled

Diabetes can lead to sexual dysfunction and infertility. These questions disturb the mind of every young person with Diabetes. In order to simplify this issue and make things clearer, I have decided to narrate my views on this matter in the form of three stories. All three stories offer different perspectives to this issue. The lessons learnt from the stories will give a reassuring go-ahead to the idea of marriage for the young, healthy and motivated adults with Diabetes mellitus.

Case no 1. The mystery of the thin bridegroom

While sitting in my outpatient clinic and seeing patients, my phone rang. It had been continuously ringing for the last 10 minutes. As a rule, I do not like to pick up the phone whenever I am seeing patients. However, it was 2 pm and I had completed seeing my patients and was about to leave for lunch. I picked up the phone. It was Dr Gupta who had been trying to call me. Dr Gupta is a well-known family doctor practicing in a nearby town. He is also a close friend of mine.