Write a commentThis week is Diabetes Week and the Southern Health and Social Care Trust is helping to raise awareness of the condition.
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The Southern Trust has around 16,000 people with Diabetes while in the province as a whole there are 85,000 adults living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes, caused by the body’s failure to produce the hormone insulin is not preventable, usually develops in children and young people and requires regular insulin injections as a life saving treatment.
Type 2 diabetes is linked with obesity and increasing age and accounts for 90% of diabetes cases. It is caused by the body’s failure to produce enough insulin or when the insulin produced does not work properly. Up to 80% of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed.
The Southern Trust has a wide range of community and hospital based services to support people with diabetes and is keen to continually improve these, as Angela McVeigh, Director of Older People and Primary Care says: “Diabetes is one of the most challenging chronic conditions facing our population. People with the condition are at risk of significant health problems like renal disease, sight problems or cardiovascular disease.
“In the Southern area there are around 16,000 patients with diabetes including children and adults. Given the continued growth in our population and persistent increase in diabetes, we have recently reviewed our services and have introduced a number of new developments to support people with the condition.
“Because it is a long term condition, we want to ensure our patients can live as independently as possible, for example by giving them direct telephone access to specialist nurses and by offering expert patient programmes to increase their ability to self-manage their diabetes at home and improve their overall quality of life.”
Find out more about diabetes here www.diabetes.org.uk
