Raising alert against diabetes

STORY BY MICHAEL RODRIGUES

With millions of Canadians suffering from diabetes, healthcare professionals are worried that young adults are not taking the time to care for their health.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and the Halton Diabetes Program will be providing an information booth for the students and faculty of Sheridan College.

On Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, representatives will open a booth beside the health centre in B-Wing at Trafalgar Campus. For the second time in two years, students and faculty will be able to test their glucose levels and have their questions answered about diabetes.

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With millions of Canadians suffering from diabetes, dietician Diane Moore and registered nurse Sally Reid, decided to start educating post-secondary students.

“By coming into the college setting, there are a lot of young people dealing with diabetes,” said Reid. “For many years they have been followed in a pediatric setting. Quite often theses young people can get immersed in schoolwork and they forget to take care of their diabetes,” she said.

“Like last year we will have information about diabetes and about diabetes prevention,” said Moore. “People will also have the opportunity to have their blood sugar checked right on the spot.”

Although the blood sugar test does not replace a medical visit with a physician or other health service, students and faculty will be able to take their results and contact a doctor if needed.

“If we find that someone’s blood sugar is a little bit higher, they can take the information they have learned and pursue it forward,” said Moore.

Diabetes occurs when cells do not respond to the insulin that the pancreas creates or the pancreas does not produce any insulin at all.

“We are looking more for type 2, in case people’s blood sugar is rising a bit high,” said Reid.

Although type 2 diabetes occurs more often in adults, there is still a focus on educating the youth about both types of diabetes.

“We were trying to target the younger crowd and trying to let them know that we have a service for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes,” said Moore.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when someone’s immune system attacks and kills cells in the pancreas, this causes for little no to insulin to be produced. Type 2 diabetes is caused when one’s body cannot use the insulin that the body produces.

While type 2 diabetes occurs gradually over a lifetime, type 1 occurs suddenly. Type 1 diabetes commonly occurs in thin to normal sized people, while patients of type 2 diabetes are often obese.

For more information about diabetes in Canada, visit http://www.diabetes.ca/