Diabetes Week: 10th – 16th June 2012

LifeLineScreening - June 12, 2012

Diabetes Week is an annual campaign, which takes place this week, from 10^th to 16^th June. The event is championed by the UK’s foremost diabetes charity Diabetes UK, who has been asking people to “Make a Connection” and spread awareness, support and raise funding for diabetes sufferers across the UK. Throughout a variety of activities, including a recent Guinness World Record attempt for the most waists measured in 8 hours, Diabetes UK aims to support over 10 million people across the UK who have either been diagnosed with diabetes or are at a high risk of developing the condition.

Diabetes (also known as diabetes mellitus) is a condition where the body is not able to adequately control blood sugar levels:

Type 1 – This is where body does not produce insulin, the hormone needed to process glucose for energy.  This is the least common of the two, accounting for around 10% of cases in the UK. Treatment and maintenance of Type 1 diabetes includes regular injections of insulin to enable the body function correctly.

Type 2 – Type 2 diabetes is far more common and is where the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the insulin produced does not work properly. This condition can largely be controlled through a healthy diet and monitoring blood glucose level. Type 2 is progressive however and can, on some occasions, develop into Type 1.

Here at Life Line Screening we test for Type 2 diabetes using a glucose screening that tests for blood sugar levels, helping to not only identify diabetes, but also provide information about how those who have already been diagnosed are managing the condition.

A recent BBC article has highlighted the importance of an “early and aggressive” screening approach to reducing the number of diabetes cases among those who are close to developing the condition.  Blood sugar levels typically rise ahead of reaching a diabetic level of glucose (measured in milligrams per decilitre, or mg/dL), an indicator that the patient could be pre-diabetic. Bringing this level back within a healthy range can, in some cases actually prevent a pre-diabetic from developing diabetes – an important consideration, given that those with pre-diabetes are five to six times more likely to develop diabetes and are also at greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

To learn more about diabetes and to book a screening for Type 2 diabetes with Life Line Screening visit our website. We’ve also included a few helpful resources on diabetes below:

Diabetes UK

International Diabetes Federation – World Diabetes Day 14^th November

Diabetes.co.uk

NHS Choices – Diabetes

BBC Health – Diabetes

About LifeLineScreening

At Life Line Screening UK, our mission is to make people aware of undetected health problems and encourage them to seek follow-up care with their GP.

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1. Life Line Screening UK Blog » Blog Archive Life Line Screening’s Highlights of 2012| Life Line Screening - March 6, 2013 at 12:21 pm

   [...] Work Week, two causes that will continue to be important to Life Line Screening in 2013, along with Diabetes Week, which we wrote about in June in support of diabetes prevention and our diabetes [...]

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