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Latest figures say there are around 4 million people in the UK that have been diasnosed with diabetes and can account for around 25,000 premature deaths a year.

November is Diabetes Awareness Month and Sunday November 14th is World Diabetes Day.

This year marks 100 years since the discovery of a treatment that has saved millions of lives around the world – insulin.

diabetes.co.uk are using the #EmpoweredTogether tag to promote this awareness month

This Diabetes Awareness Month, we are encouraging people with diabetes to join and be #EmpoweredTogether as a global diabetes family.

The month of November represents a time for people with diabetes to share their individuality in how they and their family live with diabetes. It is also a chance to share the similarities in what people with different types of diabetes are living with.

Diabetes Awareness Month enables us all to bring the diabetes community together, to share stories and ideas, and to collectively benefit from years of experience and acquired knowledge. It is an opportunity to demonstrate that we are in this together.
The Diabetes Forum has been the diabetes family home for many people with diabetes. Over 2 million posts show how the forum has helped people to join an ever-welcoming community of people with diabetes, ready to share their experiences and help each other out.

During Diabetes Awareness Month we will be taking to social media to raise awareness of the condition, so it is better understood by people with and without diabetes.

We want to make November a month where we share your stories to help raise awareness and highlight the importance of all those behind the scenes, the parents who dutiful dote on their children, friends who lend a supporting shoulder and the online community. Let’s be #EmpoweredTogether this Diabetes Awareness Month.
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high. There are 2 main types of diabetes:

type 1 diabetes – where the body's immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin

type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells do not react to insulin

Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, around 90% of all adults with diabetes have type 2.

Advice from NHS UK includes

When to see a doctor

Visit your GP as soon as possible if you experience the main symptoms of diabetes, which include:

  • feeling very thirsty
  • peeing more frequently than usual, particularly at night
  • feeling very tired
  • weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
  • itching around the penis or vagina, or frequent episodes of thrush
  • cuts or wounds that heal slowly
  • blurred vision

Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days.

Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general.

Causes of diabetes

The amount of sugar in the blood is controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is produced by the pancreas (a gland behind the stomach).

When food is digested and enters your bloodstream, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into cells, where it's broken down to produce energy.

However, if you have diabetes, your body is unable to break down glucose into energy. This is because there's either not enough insulin to move the glucose, or the insulin produced does not work properly.

There are no lifestyle changes you can make to lower your risk of type 1 diabetes.

You can help manage type 2 diabetes through healthy eating, regular exercise and achieving a healthy body weight.

The only way you can find out if you or a loved one has diabetes is from blood tests that measure you blood glucose (sugar) levels. Your GP can arrange this but there also a range of home kits available.

   

Main Sources: diabetes.co.uk and diabetes.org.uk