Castletown Chemist

On the evening of 14 November – and maybe for a few nights either side as well – the Arts Centre Spire in Melbourne will be lit blue. It’s just one of several major landmarks in Australia and what’s expected to be over 1000 buildings and monuments worldwide that will take on a temporary blue appearance.

The aim is to raise awareness of diabetes.

That might seem almost unnecessary, yet diabetes is fast reaching epidemic proportions. In fact, diabetes is the fourth main cause of death in most developed countries. Recent figures from the World Health Organisation indicate that more than 3 million deaths throughout the world are attributable to diabetes each year; numbers comparable to the most deadly of infectious diseases – AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

In 1985, the best data available suggested that 30 million people had diabetes. Fast-forward 15 years and the numbers were revised to just over 150 million. Today, less than ten years on, new data launched last week show that a staggering 285 million people are now living with diabetes. In 20 years time that number will rise by another 100 million. The latest figures from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Diabetes Atlas indicate that people in low and middle-income countries are bearing the brunt of the epidemic.

However, we Australians are certainly not immune. Studies show that nearly one in four Australian adults either has diabetes or so-called impaired glucose metabolism which is associated with a substantial risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Diabetes is a condition where the body can’t use glucose properly – usually because of a lack of insulin or so-called insulin resistance when the body fails to respond to its own insulin. Insulin is the chemical messenger or hormone that controls the uptake of glucose by muscles, liver and fat tissues.

Diabetes is generally classified as type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes, previously known as insulin-dependent diabetes, usually affects children and young adults. With type 1 diabetes our bodies don’t produce sufficient insulin, so this must be replaced with daily injections.

We don’t know yet the exact cause of type 1 diabetes but we do know it has a strong family link. However, it can only occur when something such as a viral infection triggers the immune system to destroy the insulin-making cells in the pancreas. This is called an auto-immune reaction. While the cause of type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle is very important in helping to manage the condition.

In type 2 diabetes which accounts for about 85% of all people with diabetes, insulin is still produced but for some reason it doesn’t work effectively. While it most often affects mature adults, more and more younger people, even children, are getting type 2 diabetes. It’s very much a lifestyle disease, and more young people are getting type 2 diabetes because more young people are getting fatter sooner.

Over the next five years the continuing theme for World Diabetes Day will be education and prevention. It’s timely then that the Commonwealth Government has begun a $30 million awareness, education and prevention campaign to tackle obesity. The Measure Up campaign encourages people to measure their waist to tell if they are at risk of developing a lifestyle-related chronic disease such as diabetes or cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease.

For most Australians, a waist measurement of more than 94 centimetres for men and 80 centimetres for women puts you at an increased risk of developing a chronic disease.

The risk is greatly increased if waist management is over 102 centimetres for men and 88 centimetres for women. Excess weight around the stomach is a likely sign of internal fat deposits around organs. The location of fat can be an important sign of the risk of developing ongoing health problems.

The campaign will also provide people with facts about lifestyle choices and promotes physical activity and healthy eating to reduce the risk.

You can get more immediate advice on diabetes and how to maintain a healthy weight from pharmacies around Australia providing the Pharmaceutical Society’s health information. Phone 1300 369 772 for the nearest location or log on to the Society’s website at www.psa.org.au and click on Self Care Pharmacy Finder; and ask for the fact cards Diabetes, Exercise and the Heart and Weight and Health. And keep your eye out for those blue buildings.

©2009 Pharmaceutical Society of Australia