Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference

NICE Quality Standards for adults with diabetes
This year’s Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference saw the launch of the NICE Quality Standards for adults with diabetes. The document outlines 13 key messages (standards) to aspire to in good diabetes care.

The working group, including representatives from Diabetes UK, NHS Diabetes, the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists and the Royal College of Nursing, developed the quality standards from existing guidance, with an aim to highlight the main issues regarding diabetes care and management. The 13 standards include: ensuring people with diabetes and/or their carers are given a structured education programme with ongoing review; that there is proper assessment and management for psychological issues; and that inpatients with diabetes have access to a specialist diabetes team and are given the choice of self-managing their insulin therapy.

People with diabetes 70% more likely to die from liver disease
People with diabetes are 70% more likely to die from liver disease than people without the condition, according to new data presented at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh compared deaths from liver disease in people with and without diabetes between 2001 and 2007; 24% of people with diabetes died from hepatocellular cancer compared with 9% in those without diabetes, and the proportion of deaths from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was greater in people without diabetes (63%) than those with diabetes (38%).

The study’s lead researcher, Dr Sarah Wild, said: “NAFLD has become more common recently, particularly among people with diabetes. The major risk factor for NAFLD is being overweight, which is also an important risk factor for type 2 diabetes.”

Diabetes UK Type 2 Diabetes Research Award 2011
The Diabetes UK Type 2 Diabetes Research Award is presented to the author of the winning abstract that, in the judges’ opinion, has contributed most to the achievement of the understanding of type 2 diabetes and its treatment.

The winners of this year’s award were Viswanathan GN, Zaman AG and Marshall SM, from Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for their work on thrombus burden, clot kinetics and response to anti-platelet therapy in type 2 diabetes.