WHILE everyone is focused on Aids as the sole killer of humankind, they have forgotten about other equally dangerous and potentially fatal diseases like malaria, herpes, TB, pneumonia, meningitis, heart conditions and hypertension, among other ailments.

Unlike other pandemics, sugar diabetes has proven to be a silent killer boasting many unspoken graves. Many don't see the menace coming until they close their eyes for the very last time.

Though it has been around longer in our communities, people seldom panic when they are first diagnosed with it. They shrug it off as a silly condition that deprives you of enjoying the finer things in life, such as certain types of food. Yet diabetes in all it's forms is a killer if not taken seriously.

When somebody mentions diabetes we conjure up an image of people injecting themselves with insulin until the day they die.

More people are comfortable with type 2. That variant of the illness is regulated by an intake of tablets and a proper diet. I must confess I am not a fundi when it comes to the disease. But now that I have become a victim myself, I really would like to learn more so that I can manage it as best I can. It's a lifestyle and I wish it was more widely understood. This being Diabetes Week, I hope ignorant sufferers such as myself will learn more so that we can better manage our lives and enjoy them to the fullest.

I have been told that I should eat oats every morning, brown or wholewheat bread with tea and fruit during tea break, a full lunch consisting mainly of vegetables and fish or chicken rather than red meat. Guess what, there is an ice cream for diabetics but it's not readily available. You look for it until you give up, though private clinics always have it in stock.

I guess I am one of the hopeless cases who have been told a million times to lose weight because that helps a lot.

Between the many functions I attend - and the lack of consistent will - I have become a yo-yo statistic. One minute I think I am on the right track as I feel the layers of fat peeling away and the next I am not sure what hit me when my scale gives me the bad news.

I guess I am trying to tell other sufferers that according to the experts, diabetes is manageable through lifestyle change, losing weight, exercising regularly, eating healthily and eliminating sugar and starch from your diet.

It's also about learning to manage your anger and stress so that you stay calm. But above all, that fat must go! If you do not take care, you risk inviting diabetes' friends cholesterol and hypertension, which are seriously bad news.

It's time you take control and emerge the victor, or kanjani.