Five facts about diabetes for Diabetes Week

Diabetes Week is taking place from 10 to 16 June 2019 and aims to increase the public’s understanding of diabetes. This year, Diabetes UK is asking people to share five facts to help people see diabetes differently:

Chances are, lots of people you know are living with diabetes.

One in 15 people live with diabetes. That’s 4.7 million people in the UK – more than cancer and dementia combined. That includes one million people who don’t even know they have Type 2 diabetes. In the North West over 444,000 of people are living with a diabetes diagnosis with Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale having the highest prevalence in the region.

There are different types.

Type 1 and Type 2 are the two main types of diabetes. There are rarer types too. What they all have in common is they raise sugar levels in the blood. And that can seriously damage the body. But why they happen and how they’re treated varies.

Anyone can get diabetes, at any time. It doesn’t discriminate.

Why people get diabetes is complicated. Some things increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, from genetics and ethnic background to gender, age and lifestyle factors. But sometimes it isn’t clear why people get it.

Diabetes is relentless. It’s day in, day out. It never stops.

It’s not just tablets or injections. It’s so much more than that. Every day involves a thousand little questions, decisions and things to remember. It’s appointments, checks, calculations, what to eat. It’s your care on your shoulders. It’s knowing things won’t always go to plan.

It might make life harder but it doesn’t have to change your ambitions or adventures.

For many people it never stops, but you don’t have to either. When you’ve got diabetes, just getting through the day can be a monumental achievement. But it doesn’t mean life stops. People have become professional athletes, topped the charts and ruled the country with diabetes.

Clare Howarth, Head of the North of England at Diabetes UK, said: “We know diabetes is complicated and hard to understand. Whether it’s living with it, the causes or the various treatments, it’s never simple. It can be hard to talk about it openly, and start to tackle it when there’s so much misunderstanding.

“Living with the condition is tough enough, without having to worry about what other people think, feel or say. This Diabetes Week we want to help people know more about diabetes, not just as a condition, but about how it feels to live with it.”

Find out more about what it’s like to live with diabetes and what you need to know, go to:

• www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetesweek