The 15th annual Prof M Viswanathan Honour Award was presented to Dr Peter Rossing, head of research and chief physician, Steno Diabetes Centre, Denmark here on Saturday. The award is given to scientists and researchers working towards the prevention of diabetes.
Thanking the scientific jury who had selected him for the award, Dr Rossing said that it takes education to prevent kidney disease in diabetic patients. He delivered a lecture on the detection and treatment of diabetic kidney disease. “Diabetic nephropathy is irreversible in humans and there is no recovery or cure. Once the signs are manifest, the disease will go on its natural course to death. There is a five to seven year life expectancy,” he said.
Senior members of the medical fraternity in Chennai were present, and dean of Madras Medical College, Dr V Kanagasabai, handed over the award to Dr Rossing. He applauded the preventive work being done by researchers like Rossing. “With a large hospital in the city, we handle over 1,000 out-patients with diabetes related conditions each day. Recently, for World Diabetes Day, we screened around 5,000 students, and 10 per cent of them had elevated sugar levels,” Kanagasabai said.
Dr Vijay Viswanathan, head and chief diabetologist M V Hospital for Diabetes, Royapuram, and Dr Narasinghan, dean, were also present.