NEWS
A creative project
involving people
living with Type 1
diabetes and HCPs
with a specialism
in the condition
has provided some
welcome respite
from the coronavirus
pandemic, as well as
a showing people of
all ages and backgrounds living with T1
have an array of talents. Art1st, instigated
by Professor Partha Kar, National Specialty
Advisor for Diabetes at NHS England
proposed a live event to showcase Type
1s in the visual and performing arts, to be
held in June 2020 but was put on hold
as the virus took hold. The organising
group - Agnieszka Graja, Peter Davies,
Partha Kar, Rosie Dennington, Ros Gray,
Abbey Cortazzi, Lydia Parkhurst, Adrian
Long, Lis Warren, Benjamin Byrne, Sarah
Ali Racanière, Nichola Copeland and Jazz
Sethi - established an online event for
people to submit and share their work.
Hundreds of top-quality submissions
were received from across the UK
and as far afield as India, the USA and
Canada, including drawing, painting,
sculpture, crafts, photography, music,
dance, fashion and poetry, which were
showcased every day for two months.
The website remains open, providing a
permanent showcase and reminder of
the talents of this supportive and sensitive
community. A live event is still planned
and will take place in central London
when appropriate, featuring some of the
best visual material alongside live poetry,
music and dance performances.
www.art1st.life
Cat image above by Oliver Carr.
ARTY PARTY
HEALTHIER YOU FOR TYPE 2S
T2 REMISSION SAVINGS
People at high risk of developing Type 2
diabetes are being fast-tracked into the
flagship Healthier You NHS Diabetes
Prevention programme following research
that revealed those living with diabetes
face a significantly higher risk of dying
with Covid-19.
The programme, which supports
people to lose weight and adopt healthier
habits, is the first national initiative of
its kind and has helped hundreds of
thousands of people.
People can use an online tool, hosted
by Diabetes UK, to calculate their risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes by answering
a series of basic questions including
age, weight and ethnicity. If their score
comes back as moderate or high, they
can refer themselves to a local Healthier
You service for support remotely or online,
without having to go through a healthcare
professional for a blood test.
Those who qualify will be able
to choose how they complete the
programme, either by joining group
sessions by video link or telephone with
an experienced coach or through digital
support, which includes online peer
support groups and, in some areas,
wearable tech.
The nine- to 12-month programme
is designed to stop or delay the onset
of Type 2 diabetes through a range
of personalised lifestyle interventions,
including: education on lifestyle choices,
advice on how to reduce weight through
healthier eating and bespoke physical
activity programmes.
Over half a million people have been
referred into the programme, and those
completing the programme who were
overweight or obese lost on average
3.6kg, greater than initially predicted.
GPs are also now being encouraged
to prescribe cycling as a way for their
patients to lose weight, as part of a new
government strategy to tackle the nation's
obesity crisis.
An economic study has shown the
DiRECT programme, which can put Type
2 diabetes in remission for some people,
could result in huge savings for the NHS.
In 2017, the first results from the study
revealed that through a low-calorie weight
loss programme, some people could go
into remission from Type 2 diabetes.
A paper from Dr Yiqiao Xin and Andrew
Davies at the University of Glasgow, as part
of the DiRECT team, reveals that the use
of a DiRECT-style approach to remission
is not only predicted to improve the life
expectancy of people living with type 2
diabetes, but also results in an average
saving to the NHS of £1,337 per person
over their lifetime. Compared to standard
care, the DiRECT style approach would be
cost-saving within six years.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, Director of
Research at Diabetes UK, said: "The
impact of DiRECT has been huge.
Not only is the trial changing lives now,
but its findings offer hope to millions of
people living with Type 2 diabetes that
their condition may not always have to
be lifelong. We want as many people as
possible to have the opportunity to put
their Type 2 diabetes into remission. By
demonstrating the significant cost savings
to the NHS, which currently spends 10%
of its budget on diabetes care, this new
study could help the DiRECT approach
to become a fundamental part of Type 2
diabetes treatment for all."