Uniting for World Diabetes Day and American Diabetes Month

unite for diabetesDiabetes is one of the most widespread conditions in the world.1 Globally, more than 370 million people are living with diabetes, including over 25 million in the United States alone.2 And throughout November, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) will raise awareness about everything diabetes, from risk factors and genetics to proper diet and blood sugar testing. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has also named today, November 14th, World Diabetes Day, and now is the time to start sharing your experiences with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes mellitus sometimes gets lumped into a singular condition, but as you probably know, there are actually two very different kinds of diabetes, labeled type 1 and 2 (There is a third type, known as gestational diabetes that can sometimes occur during pregnancy but is not necessarily permanent). Type 2 is by far the most common, and the IDF’s website has a great infographic explaining the basics.

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So what’s going on this month? Both the ADA and the IDF are coordinating a ton of ways to promote diabetes awareness during November, and if you’re unsure where to begin, here are a few ideas to check out:

 

 

What’s going on at PatientsLikeMe for diabetes?

 

Just recently, nearly 600 diabetes members filled out the 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS), which measures the amount and types of problems diabetes can cause in a person’s life. Check out the complete results here.

The community also just participated in one of our very first Open Research Exchange (ORE) questionnaires. In fact, more that 700 diabetes members added their voice to it. PatientsLikeMe’s pilot research partner Dr. William Polonsky is developing the WHY STOP scale on ORE, which will help us all understand if we’re eating a meal, how do we decide we’re done. Stay tuned for more info and the complete results!

Finally, check out our interview with Dr. Richard A. Jackson, who shared some of his thoughts with us last June. He’s currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and also the former Director of the Hood Center for the Prevention of Childhood Diabetes at The Joslin Diabetes Center. Richard has been studying diabetes for over 30 years – he even led the first National Institutes of Health clinical trial to study diabetes prevention.

There are over 13,000 PatientsLikeMe members currently living with diabetes, and many of them have been sharing their experiences and contributing to real-world research that could benefit their fellow diabetes patients. If you’re living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you can find others just like you on PatientsLikeMe. Track your own experience with a personal health profile, or share your story in the community forums to start living better together, during American Diabetes Month and all year long.


1 http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsdiabetestrends/

2 http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday/toolkit/gp/facts-figures

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