DIABETES: FACTS vs MYTHS Article by Dr Gilford Mutwiri,a board certified Internal Medicine specialist at Consolata Nkubu Teaching & Referal Hospital '' The management of diabetes mellitus(DM) is marred by deeply rooted beliefs, practices and misconceptions. So entrenched are they that it’s often mentally fatiguing to engage the affected . Often, you encounter people with diabetes who are shocked that they are unwell. To them, they simply feel nothing. That they even don’t know what they are supposed to feel is equally worrying. On this sole basis, they vehemently oppose the diagnosis and seek multiple opinions. Currently, out of the four criteria used in the diagnosis of DM, only one requires the presence of symptoms. It therefore possible to have DM without symptoms. It’s also true that the absence of symptoms doesn’t mean no harm is happening. To avoid such shockers, it is crucial that one adopts a screening approach. The traditional daily monitoring of fasting blood suga