29 November, 2024
In 2022, 14% of adults aged 18 years and older were living with diabetes, an increase from 7% in 1990. More than half (59%) of adults aged 30 years and over living with diabetes were not taking medication for their diabetes in 2022.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.
For National Diabetes Month 2024, we spoke to Claudia Greene, a Communications Officer with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of three.
Having been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 3 Claudia explained how it had become 2nd nature to manage injections and blood sugars every day. She explained that as insulin controls the blood sugars within the body, any time she eats, she needs to "inject to counter manage that."
She went on to say; "There are two different types of insulin, you have fast-acting and slow-acting. As a diabetic, I take 2 forms of insulin a day, NovoRapid and Levemir at night. Slow acting works in the background and you would take your fast-acting with your meals or to correct any high blood sugars. I also use a FreeStyle Libre sensor in my arm to monitor my blood glucose in real-time without having to prick my finger."
In past years, Claudia had used an insulin pump, which connected to her body 24/7 to deliver insulin. She told us that "this allowed me to input my carbs and it would tell me how much insulin to take. I was on that for about 7 years before I decided it just wasn't for me anymore and I moved back to injections. It's a bit more of a hassle but I find that I manage much better as it works well with my type of blood glucose levels."
We asked Claudia if there was anything she wished she had known sooner about having diabetes. "Having had diabetes for about 25 years now, it's almost become 2nd nature to me to wake up in the more and pick up my injection, even in public. I feel I don't need to hide away anymore which was always something I was conscious of because the idea of injecting yourself in public is very scary, particularly as a new diabetic. But one thing I do wish I had known whenever I was younger; even though it is something that will become ingrained in your everyday life, there will be days where you will feel burnt out from it, the constant having to figure out exactly how much insulin to take; sometimes you may be wrong and some days you'll even forget to take your insulin. But those days are okay and are going to be normal to have and you just need to take a breather. YOu know exactly what you need to do, you just need to be in the right head space to manage it and get the ball rolling again."
Claudia went on to discuss the stigmas around her condition. "With diabetes in general there is an awful lot of stigma around it where people think that the reason someone has diabetes is because they ate too much sugar as a kid. Type 1, is not true, it's an autoimmune disease which you can be born with it or can just develop out of nowhere as I discovered at the age of 3. It's something you can't change, you can't cure it, maybe in the future but for now, there is the technology and different means and ways to help manage your diabetes to just get on with your life and live it the best you can."
