Volunteers Needed

We need more people on our committee!  If you have a few hours a month to spare, could you help us by joining our committee?  You don't need to have diabetes yourself, though an interest in the condition would be helpful, just a bit of spare time to help at meetings and events.  Come and speak with us at a meeting, or send me an e-mail.

MotorFun

Here we are at our stall at the recent Motorfun event held in Elgin's cooper park, we gave out lots of information as well as running our 'Lucky Squares' competition.

Congratulations to our winners Mrs Fraser who won a 12 year old bottle of whisky - kindly donated by Diageo, Mrs Adams who won a £10 gift voucher - kindly donated by Asda in Elgin, and Miss Hagan, who won a giant cuddly panda - kindly donated by Mr H Lawton.

We raised a total of £187.41, through our competition and donations given, so many thanks to everyone who supported us.  Also thanks to those volunteers who manned the staff - we couldn't do it without you!

Adopt a Project

Elgin and District voluntary group are pleased to support, with a donation of £2000, Dr Mirela Delibegovie, University of Aberdeen for research into the role of liver and adipose PTP1B in obesity, ER stress and whole-body glucose homeostasis.

In addition, a donation of £1000 has been given to Prof Vivien Coates and associates, University of Ulster, Belfast regarding diabetes education for adolescents.

Also, £1000 has gone to Diabetes UK Scotland Careline, to support them in their excellent work.

Diabetes UK Holidays

This year, we have funded three youngsters from Moray to attend Diabetes UK holidays.  These holidays are a great opportunity for children with diabetes to learn more about their condition, meet others with diabetes, and gain confidence in learning to manage their condition.

Carb Counting At Dr Grays

The following was recently received from the dietitic department at Dr Grays:

The kind donation from the Local Branch of Diabetes UK provided the dietetic department in Dr. Grays Hospital, Elgin with funds to enable the purchase of necessary items which has allowed the practical carbohydrate counting group sessions to be run in Moray.  The items purchased with the funding include;-

• a wide variety of food replica models which help patients recongnise which foods contain carbohydrate and which do not and also the carbohydrate content of these different food and drink items
• plate sized photgraphs of examples of different meals on a plate ranging from roast dinners to sandwiches, McDonalds, pasta dishes, desserts and salads etc. all to assist with assessing the carbohuydrate content of these meals and the subsequent potential impact on peoples blood sugar levels
• 3 sets of digital kitchen scales for the practical sessions so people can weight out typical portions sizes of the common foods they have and then calculate the carbohydrate content of these familiar foods and amounts they eat and
• a trolley to help to transport the above items.

The food models and photograph plate models are now also used for the Type 2 Diabetes group education sessions and various other talks and workshops run by the dietitians.

The Dietetic Department is very grateful for the funding from the Local Branch of Diabetes UK to allow the purchase of the above tiems, without which, these practical sessions could not have been run.

The sessions, which are run monthly at Spynie for people with Type 1 Diabetes, are being evaluated, and to date, appear to have been very positively received by those attending.

If you wish to attend one of the above sessions please do not hesitate to contact the dietetic department on 01343 567350.

Diabetes campaigners demand access to insulin pumps

Campaigners in Moray are demanding answers from Grampian Health Board on the steps they are taking to ensure that insulin pumps are made available to people with diabetes.  For many people with Type 1 diabetes, particularly children, using an insulin pump can dramatically improve their quality of life when insulin injections are failing them.

Guidance published in 2003 by the National Institute of Health and clinical Excellence (NICE) states that insulin pumps should be an option where insulin injections have failed, yet many people do not have access to them or a re not even being assessed for one.  It is estimated that only 1 percent of people with Type 1 diabetes in Scotland use this therapy compared to 10 to 20 per cent in other European countries.

As part of the Diabetes UK ‘Small change big difference’ campaign for Diabetes Week (10 - 16 June), local people are sending letters to the Chief Executive of Grampian Health Board to find out the exact state of insulin pump therapy in the area.

A spokesperson from Elgin and District Branch of Diabetes UK said: ‘It’s shocking that people with diabetes who have difficulty managing their condition are being refused a treatment that can radically transform their lives.  People’s health and quality of life are on the line as badly controlled diabetes can lead to complications such as heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.  Insulin pump therapy not only benefits the user, but in the long term it will benefit the NHS by reducing hospital admissions and the cost of treating diabetic complications.’

The annual cost of using an insulin pump is around £1,400.  Evidence has shown that an estimated saving of £23,532 over two years can be derived which offset the costs of insulin pump therapy.

You can join this campaign by sending an email via the campaigning tool on the Diabetes UK website.  Insulin Pump Campaign.

The information presented on this site is for general use only and is not intended to provide personal medical advice or substitute for the advice of your physician. If you have questions or concerns about individual health matters or the management of your diabetes, please consult your diabetes care team. Products highlighted on this website are not necessarily endorsed by Diabetes UK.