Diabetes checks for free in Nelson

September 22nd, 2012 by Sandy

The Healthy Lifestyle Roadshow Being conducted by Diabetes UK will reach Nelson on Thursday and will be there on Friday too to provide free diabetes checks. With the Healthy Lifestyle Roadshow reaching Market Square in Nelson on Thursday, people living in Nelson can get their sugar level checked for free on both Thursday and Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and 9 am to 4.30 pm respectively on these days. It has been estimated that there are approximately 700 people throughout East Lancashire who are known to have Type 2 diabetes but are not aware of this fact. The objective of this Roadshow is to deal with this issue by emphasising the dangers of the ailment and urging affected people to alter their style of life.

The East Lancashire Diabetes Awareness Campaign of which the Pendle Healthy Lifestyle Roadshow is a part, has Diabetes UK joining hands with NHS to increase the consciousness of the dangers of diabetes and to make certain that the 27,000 residents throughout the region who have developed and are living with the condition will receive the requisite healthcare. Diabetes which is one of the commonest of conditions that affect people in the United Kingdom would probably lead to problems that can destroy a person’s like such as strokes, heart conditions, kidney ailments, amputation of limbs and blindness, unless it
has been diagnosed in time or left without treatment.

The Roadshow will increase the awareness among the people regarding the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes signs of which are overweight, a growing waistline, having close relatives who have the condition and being over forty tears of age. Regarding age, this condition can affect south Asian and black people who are more than twenty five years old. The danger waist measurements are 37 inches or more in men; South Asian people will be in danger of the condition if their waistline is over 35 inches and 31.5 inches for women everywhere.

The staff of Diabetes UK will provide diabetes risk examinations for free and this would show whether a person is in danger of developing Type 2 diabetes in the next decade. If dangers are between moderate and high, they will be asked to see their GP for counsel or more testing. A dietician on the Roadshow can also help people make the necessary alterations in their lifestyle by taking a healthier low fat, low sugar and low salt diet with regular exercising.

The show also encourages people to take a more active lifestyle, because simple and easy changes in the way they live coupled with entertaining physical exercise can have considerable effect and prevent someone from getting affected by Type 2 diabetes. The fact is that 62 percent pf the condition can be avoided just by making changes in their way of living. Type 2 diabetes can go undetected form many years and is especially important that people see a doctor if they find that they have symptoms like wanting to urinate more frequently particularly during the nights, tremendous fatigue, inexplicable loss of weight, itching in the genital areas, feeling unusually thirsty, frequent occurrences of thrush, blurry eye sight and delayed healing of wounds and cuts.

North West Regional Manager of Diabetes UK, Julie Byron stated that this condition was of the greatest challenges that were facing human beings now. She said that there were 850,000 people who were in danger of developing Type 2 diabetes in the UK however, what was worse was that there were over 7,800 people in East Lancashire who were not aware of the fact they had the condition. She said that she would urge everyone who can possibly visit the Roadshow to get their sugar levels checked as it would be one of the most excellent things that they could do for their health. People who could not be there the Roadshow could still check for the risk of diabetes by getting themselves checked for free via the Diabetes UK Risk Score test online by logging on www.diabetes.org.uk/roadshow/riskscore1 and if they find that they are at moderate to high risk of being affected by the condition, they would have to pay a visit to their doctor for further tests and advice.