Diabetes week - 14 to 20 June 2021

Diabetes  week is marked  this year from 14th to 20th June. This annual event was developed by Diabetes UK and the purpose is to raise awareness about diabetes. For this year the theme is about encouraging people to share their experiences of living with this condition.

So what is diabetes ? Diabetes is a serious and lifelong condition and there are two types, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin. Type 2 is where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin (NHS).

Did you know that 90% of adults of who have diabetes have type 2 diabetes? With type 2 the interesting factor is that people could be living with this condition without knowing this or unaware of the symptoms to check.

Some symptoms can include feeling very thirsty, urinating more frequently than usual, particularly at night, feeling very tired, weight loss, cuts or wounds that heal slowly. See the attached links for a full list of symptoms.

Untreated diabetes or diabetes which is not controlled consistently can result in many health complications including blindness, amputation of limbs, kidney and heart diseases, to name but a few.

This awareness week is a way of getting us to learn more about this condition, look at our own health and possible symptoms and take some next steps. For further information you can go to https://www.diabetes.org.uk/ or  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/diabetes/