Yesterday, 14 November was commemorated worldwide as World Diabetes Day. I didn’t know about this day until earlier this year and as someone who suffers from this condition, I think it’s a pity, but better late than never.

World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922.

The day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public and political spotlight. The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to promote importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue.

The theme for World Diabetes Day 2019 is Family and Diabetes. Family and the support network around you has a huge impact on diabetes management, care, prevention and education and that is exactly what this year’s theme wants to highlight. The WDD 2019 has three main focus areas: Discover diabetes; Prevent type 2 diabetes and Manage diabetes.

Families are urged to learn more about the warning signs of diabetes and find out their risk of type 2 diabetes. Research conducted by the Federation in 2018 discovered that parents would struggle to spot this serious life-long condition in their own children. Despite the majority of people surveyed having a family member with diabetes, an alarming four-in-five parents would have trouble recognising the warning signs. One-in-three wouldn’t spot them at all. The findings underline the need for education and awareness to help people spot the diabetes warning signs early.

A lack of knowledge about diabetes means that spotting the warning signs is not just a problem for parents, but is an issue impacting a cross-section of society. This is a major concern, due to the signs being milder in type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent form of the condition, responsible for around 90% of all diabetes. One in two people currently living with diabetes are undiagnosed. The vast majority of these have type 2 diabetes. Left untreated or unmanaged, diabetes can lead to life-changing complications. These include blindness, amputation, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. Diabetes was responsible for four million deaths in 2017. It is no wonder that diabetes has been called a silent killer. Early diagnosis and treatment are key to helping prevent or delay life-threatening complications.

Many cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle. Reducing a family’s risk starts at home. When a family eats healthy meals and exercises together, all family members benefit and this in turn, encourages behaviours that could help prevent type 2 diabetes in the family.

Types of Diabetes
There are three main types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes used to be called juvenile-onset diabetes. It is usually caused by an auto-immune reaction where the body’s defence system attacks the cells that produce insulin. The reason this occurs is not fully understood. People with type 1 diabetes produce very little or no insulin. The disease may affect people of any age, but usually develops in children or young adults. People with this form of diabetes need injections of insulin every day in order to control the levels of glucose in their blood. If people with type 1 diabetes do not have access to insulin, they will die.

Type 2 diabetes used to be called non-insulin dependent diabetes or adult-onset diabetes, and accounts for at least 90% of all cases of diabetes. It is characterised by insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency, either or both of which may be present at the time diabetes is diagnosed. The diagnosis of type 2 diabetes can occur at any age. Type 2 diabetes may remain undetected for many years and the diagnosis is often made when a complication appears or a routine blood or urine glucose test is done. It is often, but not always, associated with overweight or obesity, which itself can cause insulin resistance and lead to high blood glucose levels. People with type 2 diabetes can often initially manage their condition through exercise and diet. However, over time most people will require oral drugs and or insulin.

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are serious. There is no such thing as mild diabetes.

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a form of diabetes consisting of high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. It develops in one in 25 pregnancies worldwide and is associated with complications to both mother and baby. GDM usually disappears after pregnancy but women with GDM and their children are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Approximately half of women with a history of GDM go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five to ten years after delivery.

Other specific types of diabetes also exist.

If you suspect you or a family member is diabetic, please reach out to a health professional immediately so that they can be tested and then given appropriate medication. A family physician is the first and best defence against this disease since they are able to see you at regular intervals and can change the medication or treatment as appropriate as well as test you at appropriate intervals.

For more details, please check out the International Diabetes Federation website.