Health

Bloggers, Vloggers, and email forwards mark World Diabetes Day

by Jason Sanders | November 14, 2008 at 12:29 pm

208 views | 9 Recommendations | 1 comment

World Diabetes Day began this morning, and the Internet showed up in complete support. Oft forgotten charities got some important notice, and it went a long way in raising awareness of this common, but life changing issue.

Some bloggers wrote about their experiences with diabetes:

Not everyone in the world has that "luxury". There are many places in the world where the basic supplies that we often take for granted are not available or affordable, and people are dying. Kids are dying.

Today is World Diabetes Day, but unfortunately for those of us living with this disease every day is WDD. Each day we test our blood sugar multiple times, dose insulin, take pills, try to maintain a healthy diet, exercise, and worry about complications, all while attempting to a live a normal life. We can’t just pick a day out of the year to be aware of our Diabetes because it’s always there

Others decided to VLog their daily routine, demonstrating the constraints they have to live with every single day.

Happy World Diabetes Day, everyone! To mark this year's WDD, I've created a little video about what a day in my life is like. People know what diabetes is, but they don't know how much management is part of our daily routine. (And, because I watched Pee Wee's Big Adventure the other night, it's a bit inspired by the breakfast machine.)

Also, an email which included a few 'little known' facts about diabetes was distributed today, hopefully improving most people's understanding of the disease.

First, let these numbers really sink in:
-Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes.
-Every 10 seconds two people develop diabetes.
-Over 250 million people live with diabetes worldwide. In 2025, this figure will reach 380 million.
-More than 200 children a day develop type 1 diabetes.
-In developing countries, close to 75,000 children live with diabetes in desperate circumstances.
-Type 1 diabetes is increasing fastest in pre-school children, at a rate of 5% each year.
-Type 2 diabetes has been reported in children as young as eight.
-Type 2 diabetes affects children in both developed and developing countries.

Like one blogger mentioned, "it is probably not the last World Diabetes Day. So those of you who live close enough to somewhere that you can participate in the WDD activities, please do."

I totally agree. If you weren't able to participate today, don't forget that you can still help out tomorrow. I'm sure they won't mind.