- THIRST – are they really
thirsty and unable to quench
that thirst? - TOILET – are they going
to the toilet a lot? - TIRED – are they more
tired than usual? - THINNER
- have they
recently lost
weight?
PEOPLE
SHOULD
LOOK FOR
THE 4 TS:
PHOTOGRAPHYGETTYIMAGESNational Diabetes Week runs from 14-20 July and this year’s
campaign is continuing to focus on the early detection of diabetes
“It’s about time we detected
silent undiagnosed type 2
diabetes,” says Professor Greg
Johnson, Diabetes Australia
CEO. “Many people have type 2
diabetes for up to seven years
before being diagnosed and
during that time up to half
begin to develop a diabetes-
related complication.”
Recent research found that
only 5 per cent of Australians
aged over 40 have had a type 2
diabetes risk check in the past
two years, despite the fact
that experts estimate up to
500,000 Australians could
have undiagnosed type 2.
In addition, more than half
of people surveyed were unable
to name any diabetes related
complication even though
type 2 is a leading cause of
vision loss, limb amputation,
kidney damage, stroke and
heart attack.
“The tragedy is that much
of the damage to the body
that causes diabetes-related
complications like vision
loss, kidney damage, heart
attack, stroke and limb
amputation is preventable,”says Professor
Johnson.
Diabetes NSW & ACT
CEO Sturt Eastwood encourages
people to take the free type 2
diabetes risk assessment. “Type
2 diabetes is the single biggest
challenge confronting Australia’s
health system and it’s time we
did a better job of detecting type
2 earlier,” he says. “The earlier a
diagnosis of type 2 occurs, thesooner a management plan can
be put in place delivering better
outcomes for the individual
and the community.
People, particularly parents,
also need to be aware of the
warning signs of type 1 as more
than 600 Australians every
year are hospitalised as a
result of undetected type 1 –
with many of these being
young people.
“Every year around 640
people, including many children,
only learn they’ve got type 1
after presenting to hospital,
often with diabetes
ketoacidosis,” says Professor
Johnson. “This can be life
threatening. But most of the
hospitalisations could be
avoided if the early signs were
identified and the type 1
diabetes treated before
progressing to ketoacidosis.”
Professor Johnson believes
everyone should learn the early
signs. “Type 1 is far more
common than most people
think. Over 3000 Australians
are diagnosed with type 1 every
year. Half of these are children
and adolescents,” he says. ■If you see theseearly (^) signs, see (^) a
doctor straight
away and ask
about (^) type 1
diabetes.
national diabetes week
96 JULY/AUGUST 2019 diabetic living