This year three
members of CMR took the trip to Manchester Central for the Diabetes UK Professional
Conference. A huge, former railway station, the hall
was filled with colourful stands – a particular favourite of ours was Lilly’s
area, with a home setting including a living room, kitchen and garden. Massages
were offered next to the fun zone (complete with air hockey!) at the hall’s
front, with the rear of the hall reserved for academic posters in a maze-like
setup, covering a massive range of topics. There was an interesting talk from
Diabetes UK themselves on their community champions. Among other speakers, the
Janet Kinson Lecture this year was by speaker David Simmons, entitled Peer Support in Diabetes.
Depression and stress are two major downfalls of being diabetic, and peer support has a definite positive impact according to three separate studies that were reported on: The Coventry Diabetes Study, New Zealand Maori Study and the University of Cambridge’s RAPSID Study. All looked to help undiagnosed diabetics discover their condition, whilst giving back to the community in the form of training for the unemployed, diabetes education and peer-support groups.
The three studies focused on ethnic minorities and deprived areas, where prevalence of diabetes tends to be higher, with peers able to build rapport with others from the same community. The findings of the study showed that psychosocial, psychological and physical issues were key barriers to seeking treatment, as well as a lack of education. This led the way for a diabetes care plan, on how best to tackle diabetes in the areas and where to seek advice and treatment.
Peer support had great effects on metabolic measurements such as HbA1c, as well as psychological health – showing considerably reduced rates of stress, depression and anxiety. More surprising was the low cost of peer-support groups in one of the studies, at just £6 per month – much cheaper than running regular counselling or clinical psychology services, along with the added benefits of more personal and open discussions. This could be a wake-up call to the UK’s National Health Service, which currently has little provision for long-term psychological support for diabetics.
Another highlight of the conference was the large number of manufacturers demonstrating their new products. We saw Spirit Healthcare’s blood-glucose meter with a voice for the visually impaired and Abbott’s new FreeStyle InsuLinx meter that offers dosing advice and holds a log of 3000 user events.
Ypsomed displayed some new, discreet mini syringes, conveniently designed to be filled with insulin and stored in the user’s pocket for subtle administration. The company spoke to us about their plans to incorporate CGM technology into Omnipod, with their ultimate goal being to provide the pump and sensor on a single cannula. Lilly’s exciting new HumaPen Savvio is a lighter, modern pen with a durable dial – and the range is as colourful as their stand! At the front of the hall was Mendor, showing an interesting integrated BG meter that includes a meter, test strips and lancing device all in one.
While we were at the conference, we also spoke with three young type-1 diabetic women, all of whom are ambassadors for Diabetes UK. Among them was a common anticipation for Cellnovo’s upcoming pump – it seems a world away from their initial reservations with pump therapy: constant attachment, a permanent lump, insecurities with durability. Hopes have been up for the pump since the original announcement of a May 2012 release date, although this was unfortunately pushed back to add more polish, and is now set for a 2013 release.
With this device, Cellnovo have a “dead funky” and “much slimmer” pump that looks discreetly like a mobile phone. Extendable tubing gives the user a customised length, and Velcro for flexibility. They say that aesthetic is everything when deciding pumps, and are impressed with its touch-screen interface and size. Cellnovo are also tipping their pump to be the first device to allow uploading of measurements to the cloud, making it accessible by the user’s physicians and parents remotely.
Two of the three girls are currently pump users, with the third due to start a six-month trial imminently. The two that are on pump therapy explained that the difference was night and day: “MDIs are uncontrollable” – multiple daily injections gave extremely volatile readings and caused near-permanent exhaustion.
Hannah, the youngest of the girls, was diagnosed sixteen years ago and decided she wanted a pump after years of imbalance. This process was particularly difficult due to the fight for NHS funding – a problem echoed by the others’ experiences. Hannah spoke in detail about her life as a diabetic in her speech at the conference.
With a certain hype around Cellnovo and a new-found caring attitude among manufacturers towards patients’ experiences, Diabetes UK pulled off a great conference and attracted a diversity of visitors. It’s always nice to learn something new every day, so we’ll leave you with a little fact: H.G. Wells, author of important works including The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, was himself diabetic and founded Diabetes UK as The Diabetic Association, back in 1934. Maybe a time machine wasn’t H.G. Wells’ greatest invention after all…
Depression and stress are two major downfalls of being diabetic, and peer support has a definite positive impact according to three separate studies that were reported on: The Coventry Diabetes Study, New Zealand Maori Study and the University of Cambridge’s RAPSID Study. All looked to help undiagnosed diabetics discover their condition, whilst giving back to the community in the form of training for the unemployed, diabetes education and peer-support groups.
The three studies focused on ethnic minorities and deprived areas, where prevalence of diabetes tends to be higher, with peers able to build rapport with others from the same community. The findings of the study showed that psychosocial, psychological and physical issues were key barriers to seeking treatment, as well as a lack of education. This led the way for a diabetes care plan, on how best to tackle diabetes in the areas and where to seek advice and treatment.
Peer support had great effects on metabolic measurements such as HbA1c, as well as psychological health – showing considerably reduced rates of stress, depression and anxiety. More surprising was the low cost of peer-support groups in one of the studies, at just £6 per month – much cheaper than running regular counselling or clinical psychology services, along with the added benefits of more personal and open discussions. This could be a wake-up call to the UK’s National Health Service, which currently has little provision for long-term psychological support for diabetics.
Another highlight of the conference was the large number of manufacturers demonstrating their new products. We saw Spirit Healthcare’s blood-glucose meter with a voice for the visually impaired and Abbott’s new FreeStyle InsuLinx meter that offers dosing advice and holds a log of 3000 user events.
Ypsomed displayed some new, discreet mini syringes, conveniently designed to be filled with insulin and stored in the user’s pocket for subtle administration. The company spoke to us about their plans to incorporate CGM technology into Omnipod, with their ultimate goal being to provide the pump and sensor on a single cannula. Lilly’s exciting new HumaPen Savvio is a lighter, modern pen with a durable dial – and the range is as colourful as their stand! At the front of the hall was Mendor, showing an interesting integrated BG meter that includes a meter, test strips and lancing device all in one.
While we were at the conference, we also spoke with three young type-1 diabetic women, all of whom are ambassadors for Diabetes UK. Among them was a common anticipation for Cellnovo’s upcoming pump – it seems a world away from their initial reservations with pump therapy: constant attachment, a permanent lump, insecurities with durability. Hopes have been up for the pump since the original announcement of a May 2012 release date, although this was unfortunately pushed back to add more polish, and is now set for a 2013 release.
With this device, Cellnovo have a “dead funky” and “much slimmer” pump that looks discreetly like a mobile phone. Extendable tubing gives the user a customised length, and Velcro for flexibility. They say that aesthetic is everything when deciding pumps, and are impressed with its touch-screen interface and size. Cellnovo are also tipping their pump to be the first device to allow uploading of measurements to the cloud, making it accessible by the user’s physicians and parents remotely.
Two of the three girls are currently pump users, with the third due to start a six-month trial imminently. The two that are on pump therapy explained that the difference was night and day: “MDIs are uncontrollable” – multiple daily injections gave extremely volatile readings and caused near-permanent exhaustion.
Hannah, the youngest of the girls, was diagnosed sixteen years ago and decided she wanted a pump after years of imbalance. This process was particularly difficult due to the fight for NHS funding – a problem echoed by the others’ experiences. Hannah spoke in detail about her life as a diabetic in her speech at the conference.
With a certain hype around Cellnovo and a new-found caring attitude among manufacturers towards patients’ experiences, Diabetes UK pulled off a great conference and attracted a diversity of visitors. It’s always nice to learn something new every day, so we’ll leave you with a little fact: H.G. Wells, author of important works including The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, was himself diabetic and founded Diabetes UK as The Diabetic Association, back in 1934. Maybe a time machine wasn’t H.G. Wells’ greatest invention after all…
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