People with diabetes

'Dreaming, learning, doing' is the inspirational slogan of the International Diabetes Youth Ambassadors (IDYA). As the former National Youth Advocate for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), Clare Rosenfeld received a multitude of e-mails from young people with diabetes around the world. Some asked for assistance; others for education. All of them shared a dream of one day seeing a cure for diabetes. This dream led Clare to contact Children with Diabetes (CWD), in the hope of creating a global programme to unite these young people.

Diabetes is not unique to people. About 1 in every 500 dogs and about 1 in every 200 cats has diabetes, and as is the case with people, these numbers are increasing. Margarethe Hoenig looks at the symptoms and treatment of diabetes in cats and dogs.

Pakistan is a South-Asian country with a population of approximately 150 million. Diabetes prevalence in Pakistan is high: 12% of people above 25 years of age suffer from the condition and 10% have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). When one considers the associated risk factors present in Pakistani society, the large number of people with diabetes is no surprise. Obesity tops the list.

India is fast-becoming the diabetes capital of the world. More than 35.5 million people in India now have diabetes. This figure is likely to rise to 57 million by 2025. This increase, principally in people with Type 2 diabetes, is bringing with it a sharp growth in diabetic complications, including eye disease (retinopathy) and kidney disease (nephropathy). In this report, Ambady Ramachandran describes the costs of diabetes and kidney disease to a person in India

In 1996, American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad (AYUDA) was set up by two teenagers after they had witnessed the economic and emotional hardships faced by José Gabriel and other young people living with diabetes in Latin America.They envisioned a youth-led organization that would educate young people with diabetes about diabetes issues, and help empower them to work effectively for positive change. AYUDA is now a growing organization, which campaigns to raise diabetes awareness and promote sustainable development for diabetes communities throughout the world.

For the safety of the passengers and crew of an aeroplane, it is imperative that an airline pilot maintain a high level of fitness. There are a number of medical conditions which, once diagnosed, may prevent a pilot being allowed to fly a plane. If they can be stabilized, some conditions may allow a return to work. Other conditions are classed as 'non-medically certifiable'. Upon diagnosis of a non-medically certifiable condition, a pilot's medical certificate will be denied, and if already issued, it will be revoked.

"Some things are quite beyond the reach of the imagination. When Jerry Gore describes life clinging to a 1500 m cliff in sub-zero temperatures in one of the remotest corners of the earth, the mind struggles to conjure up the image." So began the motivational presentations to business of the mountaineer, Jerry Gore. However, despite many years' experience overcoming extreme and challenging conditions in the mountains, when Jerry, aged 40 years, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he felt as if one of his life-lines had been severed.

Myths are defined on the one hand as traditional stories concerning the early history of people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon; alternatively they represent a widely held but false belief. There are many half-truths, exaggerations and distortions of reality surrounding diabetes which fall into both of these categories. Myths, often passed from generation to generation as oral history, represent a link between the past and present generations. As such, they often contain elements of the truth.

When she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12 years, Silvia Iancu began a long and at times frightening voyage through care. At the time, she lived with her family under the constraints of the difficult regime in Romania; her parents' reaction to the diagnosis was one of fear and desperation. Given the hardships of life under the dictatorship, her parents did not know whether they would be able to provide the insulin and other diabetes supplies that Silvia would need to survive the condition.

Populations around the world are getting fatter. People of all ages are showing signs of diabetes and other conditions which are associated with being fat. It has been found that people of African, Asian and Hispanic origins are at particularly increased risk from obesity and obesity-related conditions such as diabetes. Due to a variety of cultural and socio-economic factors, women from these populations seem to be at especially high risk from the dangers of overweight.