Diabetes UK World Diabetes Day Campaign - Taking Control!

World Diabetes Day is fast approaching and Diabetes UK has released its theme for this year's campaign- which is titled 'Taking Control', and is about the different ways in which someone with diabetes can achieve this. I consider this to be an important consideration when someone is diagnosed with the condition and beyond, because when you're diagnosed, especially with type 1, it can all feel like it's out of your control. You suddenly start feeling these symptoms in your body and often you don't know why or what it means when you become thinner, get tired all the time, go to the toilet more frequently and are more thirsty. You're then diagnosed with this big condition that requires you to change your diet and take injections, which of course no one would choose to do unless they had to. Then you're faced with these terrible highs and lows all the time in glucose levels, that can sometimes have a detrimental effect on daily life, so where's the control in that?

But there are many ways to regain control over the situation and one of the ways is through knowledge, that you can gain through structured education. Which is what the Diabetes UK campaign is all about- getting people engaged in structured education courses. For people with type 1 diabetes, courses such as DAFNE can help you master your insulin and carb regime. Or for people with type 2 diabetes course like Xpert can help you find out more about managing the condition. However, although excellent there can sometimes be issues in terms of access, funding availability and waiting lists. But this is why this is such an important topic to highlight because of the huge benefits of structured education in helping people take control of their diabetes. As you can tell from this blog, this something that I greatly advocate and you can read more in the next blog which is a press release on my story from Diabetes UK.