Diabetes and Wellbeing

World Diabetes Day is on 14 November 2024 and is a global awareness day for people with diabetes, healthcare professionals, advocates, policymakers and the public to unite to raise awareness of and take action on diabetes, as well as highlighting the impact that diabetes has on the family and support network of those affected.

Diabetes is a life long 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 properly

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

Should you experience any of these main symptoms of diabetes, you should make an appointment to visit your GP as soon as possible:

• feeling very thirsty

• passing urine 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

• blurred vision

Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes can be treated without taking insulin or other medication to help lower blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes is treated with changes in your diet and depending on the response of your blood glucose levels, sometimes tablets and insulin. Early in the course of type 2 diabetes, planned weight loss can even reverse the disease. People with type 1 diabetes must use insulin to manage their blood sugars to survive.