JDRF are posting 30 facts for 30 days. This means that every day in November they will post a different fact about type 1 diabetes everyday. You can pick up these facts via their facebook page, http://www.jdrf1campaign.org.uk/page.asp?section=91§ionTitle=30+facts+for+30+days but if you don't have facebook I will also post them here.
- Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, lifethreatening condition which has a lifelong impact of those diagnosed and their families.
- Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes is not linked to being overweight, lack of exercise or other lifestyle factors.
- Type 1 diabetes affects 350,000 people in the UK, enough to fill Wembley Stadium almost four times over.
- Type 1 diabetes oftene strikes in childhood. It stays with people for the rest of their lives.
- Type 1 diabetes happens because the body's own immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
- Type 1 diabetes is noone's fault. It can happen to anyone and is not caused by anything they or their parents did or didn't do.
- Over 25,000 children in the UK have type 1 diabetes - you would need 48 jumbo jets to take them all on holiday to America.
- People with type 1 rely on insulin injections / infusions and up to 10-12 finger prick tests every day just to stay alive.
- Incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing by about 4% each year, and more quickly in children under five.
- Type 1 diabetes is 50 to 60 times more common in under 18s than type 2 diabetes.
- On average the life expectancy of a person with type 1 diabetes is shortened by 15-20 years.
- Insulin pumps can help improve quality of life for people with type 1. But only about 4% of people with type 1 diabetes in the UK currently use insulin pumps, one of the lowest rates of pump therapy in any developed nation.
- People with type 1 diabetes in Blackburn (17%) are 42 times more likely to get a pump than people in Luton (0.4%).
- 14 November is World Diabetes Day. On this day seven people in the UK will be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
- The peak age for diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in the UK is 10-14 years but is becoming younger
- Incidence of type 1 diabetes has increased five - fold in the under five group in the last 20 years.
- Half of people with type 1 diabetes in the UK are diagnosed under the age of 15 and 90% are diagnosed by 30.
- Common signs of type 1 diabetes are thirst, frequent urination, tiredness, weight loss, ketones (pear drop smell on breath).
- Worldwise, 70,000 children (aged 14 and under) develop type 1 diabetes each year.
- Finland has the highest rate of type 1 diabetes in the world.
- Type 1 diabetes is 30 times more common in Scandinavia than in Japan, which has one of the lowest rates of the condition globally.
- 85% of people who develop type 1 diabetes have no relative with it. However, genetic factors pre-dispose people to developing it.
- Today we know of more than 50 genes that are associated with the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
- More men have type 1 diabetes in Scotland compared with women - 56.1% compared with 43.9%
- 20 years after diagnosis, nearly all people with type 1 diabetes will have some evidence of retinopathy.
- Long term complications of type 1 diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation.
- There are very few foods that someone with type 1 diabetes cannot eat and no special foods are required.
- An hour of research into type 1 diabetes costs around £60. Every bit of research brings us a step closer to finding a cure.
- The incidence of type 1 diabetes in the UK has doubled every 20 years since 1945.
- On a global level JDRF has dedicated over £850 million to research into type 1 diabetes over the past 40 years.
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