Diabetes and Me
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Diabetes Week
Diabetes Week is our annual week to raise awareness of diabetes and funds to support our work. This year, Diabetes Week takes place from 10 to 16 June and we're increasing the public's understanding of diabetes. This will help tackle the stigma many people with all types of diabetes feel.
We know diabetes is complicated and hard to understand so we want to help people know more about diabetes. Not just as a condition, but about how it feels to live with it.
We want people to see diabetes differently.
Help us celebrate this Diabetes Week by sharing our facts about diabetes.
Five things about diabetes everyone should know
1. One in 15 of us live with diabetes.
One in 15 of us live with diabetes. That’s 4.7 million people in the UK – more than cancer and dementia combined. That includes one million people who don’t even know they have diabetes.
Chances are, lots of people you know are living with diabetes.
2. There are different types.
Type 1 and Type 2 are the two main types of diabetes. There are rarer types too. What they all have in common is they raise sugar levels in the blood. And that can seriously damage the body.
But there are differences in why they happen and how they’re treated.
3. Anyone can get it.
Why people get diabetes is complicated. Some things increase your risk of developing it, from genetics and ethnic background to gender, age and lifestyle factors. But sometimes it isn’t clear why people get it.
Anyone can get diabetes, at anytime. It doesn’t discriminate.
4. It’s not just tablets or injections.
It’s so much more than that. Every day involves a thousand little questions, decisions and things to remember. It’s appointments, checks, calculations,what to eat. It’s your care on your shoulders. It’s knowing things won’t always go to plan.
It’s day in, day out. It never stops. It’s relentless.
5. It never stops, but you don’t have to either.
When you’ve got diabetes, just getting through the day can be a monumental achievement. But it doesn’t mean life stops. People have become professional athletes, topped the charts and ruled the country with diabetes.
It might make life harder but it doesn’t have to change your ambitions or adventures.
Everyone's story is different
"Throwing around grown men or flipping 100 kg tyres comes easily to me as a wrestler, but the fact that my diabetes can make me vulnerable at any time is infuriating.”
“There’s judgment from other people. I already feel judged. There are lots of reasons why someone could get Type 2 diabetes, and lifestyle is just one of them.”
“There's a stigma to Type 2 diabetes because it’s all happening internally with no visible change. People are unwilling to accept that diabetes is dangerous.”
