Is it helpful to worry
about hypos?Dr Clarke says: Hypos are
unpleasant and potentially
very dangerous, so it’s not
unusual for people with
diabetes and their loved
ones to worry about them.
Worrying about hypos can
be productive if it motivates
a person to be proactive
and engage positively with
their self-care routine.
However, it is often
unproductive, serving only
to increase anxiety about
diabetes management
and unhelpful actions,
like obsessive-monitoring,
overtreatment of hypos and
so on. Sadly, some people
think that worry or fear of
hypoglycaemia is part-and-
parcel of living with diabetes.
But it doesn’t have to be.
When worrying starts
to interfere with your daily
routine, when it’s occupying
a lot of mental space and
is hard to shake, speak to a
health professional. There
are lots of things that can
help to reduce worry and
restore self-confidence,
ranging from early
recognition of symptoms
to putting plans in place
for psychological support.Dr Janine Clarke, psychologist
Email your questions to:
[email protected]
Post: Diabetic Living, Q&A: Health,
GPO Box 7805, Sydney, NSW 2001.Q
A(^) AS
K (^) DR CL
AR
K
E
SLOW COOKER VEGETARIAN
by Katy Holder
Murdoch Books, $29.
Has our slow cooker special (page 18)
got you wanting more? Passionate
about cooking and
eating a healthy
diet, Katy Holder’s
latest cookbook
offers 100 slow
cooker recipes
suitable for all
looking for meat-
free meals. Throw
your ingredients in
and get on with
your day – simple!
425
MILLION
The number of people
around the world living
with diabetes.
Two universities in South Korea are
working on separate developments
that could potentially replace the
finger-prick test. Developers at Seoul
National University are working on
a sweatband that can be worn on
the upper arm and accurately
measure your BGLs via the sweat
on the skin’s surface. Meanwhile,
researchers at the Ulsan National
Institute of Science and Technology
are trialling a glucose-sensing
contact lens that can measure
your levels through tears.
The future
of the prick
diabetic living JULY/AUGUST 2018 13