Diabetes & Metabolism
Type 2 Diabetes
The commonest reason patients come to an endocrine clinic. The aim is not a single good report but steady, liveable control that protects the eyes, kidneys, nerves and heart over decades.
Symptoms that bring people in
- Passing urine often, especially at night
- Unusual thirst
- Tiredness that does not improve with rest
- Weight loss without trying
- Slow-healing cuts, or repeated skin and gum infections
- Blurred vision
- Numbness or burning in the feet
Having one of these does not mean you have this condition — several overlap with far more common problems. It means the question is worth asking properly.
Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to its own insulin and the pancreas cannot keep up with the extra demand. It is common in Bengal, it often runs in families, and it frequently causes no symptoms at all for years — which is precisely why it is so often found late, at a stage where damage has already begun.
How it is assessed
A diagnosis rests on a fasting glucose, a post-meal glucose and an HbA1c, which reflects average control over roughly the previous three months. Beyond confirming the diagnosis, a first consultation looks for the things that change management: kidney function and urine albumin, a lipid profile, liver enzymes and a fatty-liver assessment, thyroid function, vitamin B12 and vitamin D, blood pressure measured properly, and a proper look at the feet. A retinal examination and an ECG are arranged where indicated.
What management involves
Treatment is built around the individual, not a protocol. Age, weight, kidney function, heart disease, how long the diabetes has been present, job and meal pattern, and cost all bear on the choice of medicine. The modern drug classes — metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, DPP-4 inhibitors, pioglitazone, sulphonylureas and the insulins — differ not only in how much they lower sugar but in their effects on weight, on the heart and on the kidneys. Getting that match right matters more than the number of tablets.
Diet is discussed in terms of the food people actually eat: how much rice, when, and what goes with it. A plan that ignores a Bengali meal pattern is a plan that will be abandoned within a month.
Remission
Where the diabetes is of recent onset and there is significant excess weight, substantial improvement — and sometimes remission, meaning normal sugars off medication — is a realistic goal, and worth pursuing deliberately with a structured weight-loss plan. It is not achievable for everyone, and it is discussed honestly rather than promised.
When to seek help sooner
Sugars persistently above 300 mg/dL, vomiting, drowsiness or laboured breathing, or any foot ulcer, blackening or spreading redness — particularly with fever — need same-day attention, not the next scheduled appointment.
This page is general information. Doses and treatment choices in endocrinology are individual, and are decided at a consultation with your reports in front of us. Please do not start, stop or change a medicine based on this page.
Common questions
Before your first visit
How do I book an appointment?
Use the appointment form on this website and the clinic will telephone you to confirm a time, usually within one working day. For a same-day or urgent request, please ring the number in the page header instead — a phone call is always faster than a form.
Hospital OPDs at CMRI and Narayana Memorial are booked through the hospital's own reception. For district chambers, it is worth calling the chamber number listed on its page before travelling.
Which chamber should I choose?
Whichever is easiest for you to reach and return to. Endocrine conditions need review over months and years rather than a single visit, so the chamber you can get to comfortably every few months is nearly always the better choice than the one that seems most impressive.
That said: if your problem needs same-day tests, an ultrasound, or admission, a hospital OPD is the better setting. The Chambers page lists every location with its days and timings, and the weekly timetable shows them all side by side.
Do chamber timings ever change?
Yes — and this is worth taking seriously if you are travelling any distance. Several district visits run on a monthly rotation, such as the 1st and 3rd Saturday, and a hospital OPD can be rescheduled at short notice. Timings shown on this website are kept up to date and any known cancellation appears on the chamber's page, but please telephone ahead before a long journey.
What should I bring to the first consultation?
Bring everything you have, even if it seems old or irrelevant:
- all previous prescriptions, including from other doctors
- every blood report and scan you hold, in date order if possible
- the actual strips or boxes of the medicines you take, or a written list with doses
- your home blood sugar or blood pressure diary, if you keep one
- for a child, the growth chart and immunisation record
Old reports are genuinely useful. A five-year-old thyroid result or an earlier scan often changes the plan, because what matters in endocrinology is frequently the trend rather than today's number.
Consultation
Request an appointment
Tell us which chamber suits you and when. We will confirm your slot by phone.