A sponsored cycle ride has raised over £4000 to help secure charity status of the online type 1 diabetes forum Diabetes Power.
To raise the money, and awareness of the condition, Diabetes Power and devices company Nipro Diagnostics (UK) joined forces to cycle from the Portsmouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre to the Primary Care Diabetes Society National Conference in Birmingham in November 2011.
Mother-of-five Angela Allison, founder of Diabetes Power, said: “The aim of Diabetes Power is really to raise awareness of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes … We want a national campaign, which we’ve already started, so that parents are aware of the symptoms, and that children are diagnosed early, before reaching diabetic ketoacidosis.
“This is what it’s all about. My little girl has type 1 diabetes and the symptoms were missed. She ended up exceptionally unwell in hospital. We need £5000 to register as a charity, and that’s why we’re doing this.”
Chris Avery, Managing Director of Nipro Diagnostics (UK), added: “We’ve raised almost £3000 before we even got in the saddle. We’ve been running with buckets and we’ve canvassed over 14 000 nurses up and down the country to let them know what we’re doing, so hopefully we’re almost there.”
The team (from left to right): Loz Rawlings-Johnson (Nipro), Claudia Allison (child with T1D), Angela Allison (mother of Claudia and founder of Diabetes Power), Jeremy Barber (Nipro), Karl Grocott (Nipro; has T1D), Chris Avery (Nipro).
Cellnovo launches mobile technology
Cellnovo has announced both the launch of its mobile-connected diabetes management system (DMS), and the start of a usability trial to investigate insulin pump technology for people with type 1 diabetes. The trial will capture all data remotely, in real-time, using mobile connectivity of the Cellnovo system.
Cellnovo’s DMS comprises an insulin pump connected wirelessly to an intuitive app-based touch-screen handset. The handset features an integral blood glucose monitor, an activity monitor and a mobile data connection to a comprehensive web-based clinical management system.
NICE recommends Bydureon® in dual and triple therapy
NICE has issued a positive final appraisal determination on exenatide once-weekly and has deemed it as cost-effective for use in the NHS as a triple therapy and as a dual therapy in selected people with type 2 diabetes with inadequately controlled blood glucose levels with oral therapies.
Vladimir Kopernicky, Medical Director, Lilly UK, said: “Lilly UK is delighted that NICE has recommended exenatide once-weekly as being cost-effective for use in the NHS and we look forward to the final guidance being published.”
Novo Nordisk launch NovoPen Echo®
A new insulin pen – NovoPen Echo® – has been launched in the UK by Novo Nordisk. The pen is Novo Nordisk’s first insulin delivery device specifically designed for children with diabetes. It offer the combination of a simple memory function that records dose and approximate time since last injection to help reassure children and parents, as well as a half-unit dosing option.
InsulCheck: Digital dose time recorder
A new device launched at Diabetes UK’s Annual Professional Conference should be good news for those of you caring for insulin pen users.
InsulCheck is an add-on device that helps avoid the dangers of double injecting. The digital device clips onto the insulin pen (disposable or reusable) and, after detecting a finished injection, automatically displays the time since last injection.
Double insulin injections can happen when a person forgets that they have injected and mistakenly inject again, increasing the risk of hypoglycaemic episodes. The easily readable InsulCheck display provides the information to avoid just that. Other features include being able to signal a completed injection, and enhanced pen grip, both of which can be advantageous in the young and old.
InsulCheck was developed by John Hughes, a person with type 1 diabetes, after he suffered a double injection incident that resulted in a hypoglycaemic coma. For more information go to www.insulcheck.com
Attempts to achieve remission, or at least a substantial improvement in glycaemic control, should be the initial focus at type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
9 May 2024