World Diabetes Day

Diabetes is a chronic, progressive disease but people with diabetes can live long, healthy lives with good diabetes management. This includes managing not only blood glucose (glycaemia) but also risk factors for complications such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These can be managed with a healthy diet, regular physical activity and the correct use of medication as prescribed by a health provider. People with diabetes require access to regular and organised healthcare delivered by a team of skilled providers.

People with type 1 diabetes require daily insulin treatment, regular blood glucose monitoring and a healthy diet and lifestyle to manage their condition effectively to delay or avoid many of the complications associated with diabetes.

The cornerstone of type 2 diabetes management is a healthy diet, increased physical activity and maintaining a healthy body weight. Oral medication and insulin are also frequently prescribed to help control blood glucose levels.

A healthy diet for people with diabetes includes reducing the number of calories in people who are overweight, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, eating dietary fibre, and avoiding tobacco use, excessive alcohol and added sugar.

Physical activity is most effective when it includes a combination of both aerobic (eg. jogging, swimming, cycling) exercise and resistance training, as well as reducing the amount of time spent being inactive.

For people with type 1 diabetes, an uninterrupted supply of high-quality insulin is essential for survival. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many countries. Almost 100 years since insulin was first used to treat type 1 diabetes, many people with diabetes continue to have difficulty accessing affordable and regular insulin to manage their condition.

The full provision and availability of injection and monitoring equipment are even lower, and the cost of blood glucose supplies often exceeds the cost of insulin, especially in some of the poorest countries.

The primary aim of the World Diabetes Day (WDD) is to raise awareness of the impact that diabetes has on the family and to promote the role of the family in the management, care, prevention and education of the condition.

The WDD 2019 has three main focus areas (click on the links to learn more):

Discover diabetes
Prevent type 2 diabetes
Manage diabetes

Visit: https://worlddiabetesday.org/

When posting to social media about World Diabetes Day, use the hashtag #WorldDiabetesDay