Sugar Solution

25-year-old Aashna Mansharamani, struck with diabetes from the age of seven, tells us how it steered her life in a new direction.

- Aashna Mansharamani

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of seven. I was under weight and contrary to popular beliefs, I did not have excessive amounts of sugar and no one in my family had diabetes.

Growing up with diabetes in 2000 was interesting as developments had been made in science and medicine, making insulin, syringes and blood testing machines available. Unfortunately, though, the advanced knowledge for the same was not equally available.

In the first month of diagnosis, I was told that various food and fruits such as bananas and grapes were not allowed. If the nutrition values for anything could be calculated for, anything is allowed with the correct amount of insulin doses. Back then, diabetes was such a taboo that few people even admitted to having it. This made it particularly harder for a newly diagnosed patient to understand and have adequate information.