People with diabetes need to plan carefully for holidays, especially if they are treated with insulin. Although much of the advice will be the same as for the general population, these patients are more vulnerable and will need to take particular care in looking after themselves to avoid any ill health while away from home.
Helping patients on insulin to travel safely
Tracing the history of insulin
We often take modern medicine for granted,but a review of the history of a disease and its treatment can help us put the whole thing in perspective.In this article,we trace the development of understanding about the nature and cause of diabetes and the use of insulin as a key treatment.
Starting on insulin for type 2 diabetes
A practical guide to starting patients with type 2 diabetes on insulin
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is rising and people are developing the condition at an earlier age. Type 2 diabetes becomes progressively more difficult to control over time, so many people need to start on insulin therapy as the pancreas is no longer able to meet the body’s insulin requirements on its own. In this article,we look at the practical issues involved in helping a patient to start on insulin therapy for their diabetes.
Optimising insulin treatment in primary care
Everyone with diabetes deserves the highest standards of personalised diabetes care, no matter where, when or by whom this care is delivered.
The UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS): Its legacy for type 2 diabetes management
Working In Partnership With Patients: Developing A Diabetes Pathway With Local Service Users
This article looks at how a group of patients worked in partnership with North Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) to produce a patient information leaflet for people newly diagnosed with diabetes (see page 32).The leaflet is intended to act as a guide, giving the new diabetic information and facts to help them,as well as encouraging them to find out more for themselves and enabling them to ask the appropriate questions.
Get Your Socks Off: Diabetic Foot Care In The Community
All of us delivering care to people with diabetes know that it’s increasingly common, affecting two million people in the UK,according to figures for 2007.It is also expensive,taking up about 10% of NHS costs and 5% of social costs. We also know it’s the commonest cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations and that’s just one of the reasons that we spend so much time in clinics optimising care and detecting complications.But how well do we understand the impact of foot disease and how organised are we in assessing and treating it?
How to prevent and manage lipohypertrophy at injection sites
Lipohypertrophy is surprisingly common in people using insulin to control their diabetes. As more and more people with diabetes are managed in primary care, practice nurses take on a greater role in the management and education of these patients. This article considers what lipohypertrophy is, how it can be prevented and how it should be managed once it has been identified.
Cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes
Making Sense of FINDRISC: the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score and How to Use it
In this article, we look at what FINDRISC is and how this tool can be used to effectively prevent and slow down the development of diabetes. We also discuss the correlation between blood glucose and cardiovascular risk before a diagnosis of diabetes has been made, and how to manage risk factors to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality.
Why do People with Diabetes Fall Off the Rails?
Why is it that some patients with diabetes are able to stick to the ‘straight and narrow’ while others fall off the rails? I decided to look at my client group to see if I could pick up on any particular issues that made people either forget that they have diabetes, or struggle to continue to control their blood glucose levels as they had previously been doing. This article reviews what I found and offers some suggestions on how to help patients get back in control.