SASKATCHEWAN (CBC) - For the first time in years, P.E.I. has an endocrinologist, a doctor who specializes in diseases like diabetes and in thyroid problems.

Dr. Santhosh Lakshmi has only been working on P.E.I. for three weeks, but he is already busy seeing patients in his Summerside office.

Many of them have diabetes, a disease that is a growing problem on the Island and around the world.

"We know there is an explosion of diabetes throughout the world and the number will be doubling in the next maybe 10 years, or 15 years or so," said Lakshmi.

"I have already started getting referrals from primary care physicians about not for the straightforward diabetes, but for the complicated diabetes. So those are the kinds of patients I have started seeing already."

Those complications include people having problems with their eyes, kidneys or feet, or who use an insulin pump.

There are 8,300 Islanders with diabetes. Seventy new cases of Type II are diagnosed every month.

Jake Reid, the P.E.I. regional director for the Canadian Diabetes Association, said having an endocrinologist on P.E.I. will mean fewer people will have to travel to Saint John and Halifax for help.

"It's wonderful that we have a specialist of this calibre," said Reid.

"There's a great system for diabetes care on the Island. What's been really missing, the void has been an endocrinologist who can assist the rest of the health-care team including dieticians, diabetes educators and nurses."

People with endocrine problems can be referred to Lakshmi through their family doctor or nurse practitioner.