Nat Jackson
Eat wisely, exercise regularly, and lead a healthy lifestyle. This is advice regularly given by health care professionals, educators and the media; however, for a person with diabetes it takes on an added significance. These suggestions can greatly affect the care and control of diabetes, a disease which currently afflicts 1.5 million Canadians. Ninety percent of those with diabetes suffer from Type II diabetes, and although the care and treatment of this disease has continued to improve in the 77 years since Sir Frederick Banting and his team discovered insulin, 70% of people with this form of diabetes are not sufficiently educated about the disease or about appropriate self-care.
Once someone has been diagnosed with diabetes, it is important that they have access to the educational and support resources available to them. An easy first step is to contact the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), or one of their affiliated provincial associations. Accessible through 1-800-Banting, or on the web at www.diabetes.ca, the CDA provides everything from general information about diabetes, to the latest news and research.
It is also worthwhile to contact provincial associations to find out what is happening in specific regions. For example, in Ontario, the Canadian Medicalert Foundation has begun a pilot project with Bayer Inc., to provide lifelong medical information services to Canadians with diabetes.
