Welcome to Support for all

Diabetes Awareness

Living with Diabetes

Treatment of diabetes will be tailored to the individual and not just the type of Diabetes.
You may have to check your blood sugar levels and inject yourself with Insulin, or you may be able to control it with a healthy diet. Your healthcare professional will tell you how to control your Diabetes.
A healthy lifestyle is important for people with Diabetes; regular exercise, a healthy diet and not smoking reduce the complications caused by Diabetes. You should see your doctor every 3 months to check that you are managing your Diabetes correctly.
You should always contact your GP if you are worried about Diabetes.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease that means your body does not produce or deal with insulin properly. Insulin is a necessary hormone to help the body absorb glucose in the blood.
There are three types of Diabetes, Type 1 (which is not preventable), Type 2 (which develops from a combination of genes and lifestyle) and gestational.
Types 1 and 2 are chronic conditions that require medication or daily insulin injections.
Gestational diabetes is a temporary condition that affects some pregnant women and is usually only for the duration of the pregnancy.
Anyone can develop Diabetes., but you are more at risk from developing Type 2 Diabetes if you are overweight, you have a family history of diabetes, if you are from a black minority ethnic group, if you have ever had high blood pressure, had a stroke or heart attack.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes usually affects people over the age of 40, although increasingly younger people are also being affected.
If you are overweight or obese, you are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
In particular, fat around your stomach puts you at increased risk.
Women have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes if their waist measures 31.5 inches or more. Asian men with a waist size of 35 inches or over have a higher risk, as do white or black men with a waist size of 37 inches or over.
Reducing your body weight by about 5% and exercising regularly could reduce your risk of getting diabetes by more than 50%.

Are you at Risk?

Do you have any of the following?
A need to urinate more frequently
Increased thirst
Increased appetite
Blurred vision
Itchy penis or vagina
Skin infections
Tiredness, especially during the day
Being hungry, especially when you’ve eaten
Slow healing skin issues
Regular yeast infections
If you are experiencing three or more of the symptoms above, you should contact your GP to see if you need to be tested for Diabetes.