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September looms, and with it, the end of the summer holidays. And it feels like they had only just begun.
And so, kids across the country are reluctantly relocating their school books, ready for another year. But for those of them with type 1 diabetes, school brings a few extra challenges.
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Perhaps the biggest challenge is making sure the school is equipped to deal with your child’s diabetes. It’s not something you should take for granted: many members of staff won’t have dealt with it before.
It can be worrying not to feel confident that your child’s diabetes is being managed properly at school. The IDDT passport provides a list of conditions and pieces of information related to your child’s diabetes. You can specify your child’s hypo and hyper symptoms as well as what to do if they’re spotted, too.
Download it, print it off, fill it in, give it to your kid’s teacher – and relax.
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How well do you feel your child’s diabetes is taken care of at school? Whether you’re delighted or dissatisfied, we’d love to hear from you: let us know what you think in our survey.
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By secondary school, most children with diabetes are prepared to administer their own insulin and monitor their own blood glucose levels, but it’s also around this time that good control becomes harder than ever.
The emotional changes triggered by changing hormones, combined with the effects of puberty on blood glucose levels, can make it difficult not just to maintain the right blood glucose levels, but to motivate yourself to test and inject in the first place.
During the teenage years, when significant changes are occurring all the time, it’s then that they can feel more alone and socially isolated than ever.
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For those of you not lucky enough to enjoy a summer holiday – don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you. In truth, diabetes is always something to consider, from your earliest days at school to the moment you enter work.
There are plenty of work-related things to think about if you have diabetes, from what to do in case of hypos, to the benefits you’re entitled to, to the best ways to deal with discrimination.
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Over on the forum, Charlies_mum suspects her child may have been treated unfairly at school because of her diabetes:
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A metformin discovery this week could lead to more people with type 2 diabetes being able to take the drug.
Researchers at North Carolina University observed that metformin works in the gut, and not in the bloodstream. As a result, type 2 patients with impaired kidneys that can’t tolerate the current version of metformin could be suited to delayed-release (DR) metformin.
The scientists reported these findings reverse half a century of conventional thinking as to how metformin works in the body. |
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This week has also seen two other type 2 treatments report successful findings. The first of which was an implantable pump called ITCA 650.
Developed by Intarcia Therapeutics, ITCA 650 is implanted under the skin and provides a year’s supply of exenatide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist.
A year-long phase III trial found that ITCA 650 had average HbA1c reductions of 1.5 per cent (17 mmol/mol) and average weight loss of 4kg. |
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The next of these treatments is Jardiance, otherwise known as empagliflozin. The once-daily drug is the first SGLT2 inhibitor to demonstrate a reduction in cardiovascular risk.
In a long-term clinical trial, Jardiance reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and death when administered alongside standard care treatments, such as glucose-lowering agents, statins and blood pressure drugs. |
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The metformin news has been of particular interest to members of the Diabetes Forum. CatLadyNZ wrote:
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