World Diabetes Day focuses on healthy living

On December 20, 2006, the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution to designate November 14 as World Diabetes Day. The occasion is aimed at raising awareness of diabetes, its prevention and complications and the care that people with the condition need.

Governments, non-governmental organisations and private businesses are encouraged to increase awareness of the condition, particularly among the general population and the media. World Diabetes Day was first commemorated on November 14, 2007 and is observed annually.

The World Diabetes Day 2014 campaign marks the first of a three-year (2014-16) campaign, focusing on healthy living and diabetes. All campaign activities will continue to be informed by the slogan "Diabetes: Protect our future.”

Key campaign messages

The key messages of the campaign are to raise awareness of how making a healthy choice can be the easy choice, and the various steps that individuals can take to make informed decisions about what they eat. Special focus will be placed on the importance of starting the day with a healthy breakfast.

During the World Diabetes Day celebrations in 2013, the Nicole’s Helpline Foundation launched its newsletter with futuristic ambitions of building ultra-modern Diabetic Care Centres in Accra and other towns in Ghana. The Roman Ridge School has been at the forefront in raising funds towards the realisation of this dream and in support of helping people with Type One diabetes. The foundation invites support groups, institutions and individuals to partner it in its efforts to raise the required funds to make a difference in the lifestyle of diabetics.

Patient’s life story 

In commemoration of this year’s World Diabetes Day, Nicole’s Helpline Foundation (www.nicoleshelpline.org), shares a true and encouraging life story of a young American woman who lived and enjoyed life with a Type One diabetic condition in Ghana.

 While working as a communications fellow at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Accra, Brooke Cassoff volunteered part of her time to counsel and encourage Type One diabetics to live well with the condition. 

 Cassoff, who had been living with Type One diabetes for over nine years said, since being diagnosed with the disease, she had managed her condition and successfully gone through her university education, lived and worked on three different continents, run in half-marathons and 10Km races, and gotten married! 

She was fortunate enough to realise early that diabetes didn’t have to define her destiny and with the help of her medical team and family, she learnt how to manage her blood sugar and still live a healthy life. 

For many months leading up to the day she was diagnosed, she had been feeling increasingly unwell — on an average day and could drink 30 glasses of water and still felt thirsty, and had to urinate all the time.

Her body ached so badly that she could not stand for more than 10 minutes and though she ate frequently, she was constantly hungry but still losing weight. She was then 15-years-old and, up until that point, she knew hardly anything about diabetes, thinking the disease only affected people who ate too much sugar or were overweight.

Learning about the disease  

She learnt that Type one diabetes is an autoimmune condition, meaning it is caused by a malfunction in the body’s immune system, not from eating too many biscuits! She also discovered that there were many people around the world who are also coping with diabetes (both Type One and Type Two) over 371 million, to be exact! And, of those 371 million people, only about half actually knew that they had diabetes. 

She advised that patients should check their blood sugar often (at least four times a day) and should never skip a dose of insulin.

They should also eat a healthy diet filled with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy protein based on the ones that are beneficial for one’s blood type.

They should take every opportunity to move their body, especially after eating! They should go for a walk, dance, stand instead of sitting, clean their house, play outside — a little bit of effort goes a long way in controlling the blood sugar.

They should meet with their doctor or endocrinologist every three months and have a hemoglobin A1C tested, along with a check on the state of their kidney. Also, have your eyes and feet examined once a year. These regular check-ups will help you avoid the burden of diabetes-related complications.