Diabetes - symptoms, diagnosis, management

Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high.

There are two main types of diabetes:

type 1 diabetes – where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin
type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin

Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, around 90% of all adults with diabetes have type 2.

Wandsworth Wellbeing

There are several diabetes services available specifically to Wandsworth residents.

DESMOND (diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) is a structured education programme for patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes or those who have been diagnosed in the last year.

DAFNE (The Dose-Adjustment for Normal Eating) and BERTIE (Bournemouth Type 1 Intensive Education) are for people with Type 1 diabetes. DAFNE and BERTIE are ways of managing Type 1 diabetes and provide people with the skills necessary to estimate the carbohydrate in each meal and to inject the right dose of insulin.

If you think you are a suitable candidate to attend any of these please speak to your GP or Practice Nurse.