By Radhika Mishra
BURLINGTON— Dr. Smita Joshi is set to discuss juvenile diabetes and the importance of spreading awareness and education at this year’s Health, Fitness, and Wellness Expo on August 13th at the Burlington Marriott in Burlington, MA.
Dr. Joshi’s talk will cover the fundamentals of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes among children, their management, and treatments.
The event is free for all attendees, but you must pre-register. To register for free, please click here.
Dr. Joshi is the Director at Smit Medical and Heart Hospital in Visnagar in Gujrat, India. She is also an executive committee member of Public Health, Diabetes Education & Advocacy Interest Group and Leadership Team of Diabetes India alongside her role as executive committee member of National Guidelines for Non-Communicable Diseases in Children.
Dr. Joshi is the recipient of numerous accolades for her undying commitment to type 1 diabetes awareness, such as the Salute India award.
Dr. Joshi, alongside her family, has dedicated her life to educating the world on type 1 diabetes and supporting affected patients. She recognizes that the world is keenly aware of type 2 diabetes, but virtually unaware regarding type 1, especially when it comes to children. According to Dr. Joshi, it is crucial that people educate themselves and others on what type 1 diabetes looks like in children.
“India has the largest population of type 1 diabetics in the world and the second is the United States,” said Dr. Joshi.
Upon investigating the prevalence of type 1 diabetes in her own community in a Gujrat district, Dr. Joshi discovered that over 2000 children had type 1 diabetes in Mehsana alone.
“There was no education for these children about the disease, so we wanted to spread knowledge and awareness. The average lifespan for these kids was below twenty years,” said Dr. Joshi.
When Dr. Joshi was treating a patient at her current hospital, she was moved by a touching moment between a 4 year old girl who suffered from type 1 diabetes and her mother. Dr. Joshi recalls the mother becoming emotional, explaining that it hurts her to see her child in pain when administering her insulin shot. Dr. Joshi was touched when the young girl simply consoled her mother and said that it was not the shots that hurt her, it was watching her mother cry.
The grisly reality of type 1 diabetes and the effects it has on family inspired Dr. Joshi and her family to drive across the country from the southern tip to the northern in order to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes. After attending a diabetes conference in San Francisco in 2019, Dr. Joshi and her family decided to make the same statement in the U.S. by driving from San Francisco to Atlanta.
Dr. Joshi believes it is her social responsibility to the world to protect and advocate for diabetics across the world. She worried how many children were going to die from type 1 diabetes during the pandemic due to the isolation so she began rallying for policymakers to take action again. She selflessly provided glucometers and insulin to families who needed during quarantine.
As in the past, Health Expo this year will focus on modern medicine, yoga, meditation, alternative medicine, physical fitness, beauty, anti-aging, and from onsite exercise training to keeping fit with Bollywood dancing and numerous workshops.
The expo brings together the region’s top health and wellness providers, top speakers and fun workshops to promote life-long health, fitness and wellness in our community. From free medical screenings to knowledgeable speakers to intensive yoga workshops, expo brings the best options for a lifetime of health for the New England community.
