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| | | CASE NOTES
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| | | Dr Mark Porter gives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tackles a particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
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|  | PRESENTER | | | |
|  | | | | "I spend half my week practising medicine and the other half writing and talking about it as a GP in Gloucestershire. Working on Case Notes has been a boon for both me and my patients. One of the principal aims of the programme is to keep our listeners up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, and to accomplish that I get to interview a wide range of specialists at the cutting edge of medicine. A rare privilege that ensures our listeners aren't the only ones to learn something new."
Mark Porter | | | | |
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 Full programme transcript >>
Diabetes
Some doctors say there is an epidemic of diabetes in the Western world, and of 1.4 million people with diagnosed diabetes, and another 'missing million' people with the condition undiagnosed, they may be right.
Causes
The condition arises when the body doesn't produce enough insulin - a hormone - to relocate glucose in the blood stream to cells in our bodies where it gets converted to energy. People with this problem find themselves very tired as they can't seem to get enough energy from food, they urinate frequently as the body tries to rid itself of so much glucose in the bloodstream. They also suffer increased thirst and weight loss as the body tries to find other sources of energy.
Different types
There are two types of diabetes, one where the body's own immune system fights against the production of insulin, and the other where insulin produced is unable to do the job properly or the body doesn't produce enough. The latter used to be called 'late onset' diabetes and is now referred to as Type 2 and is most commonly diagnosed in adults aged 40 and above.
Antony Worral Thompson
Changing your lifestyle, can be more difficult as you get older. Case Notes goes in search of the right foods to eat, with Antony Worrall Thompson.
Diabetes and religion
We look at how to manage the condition when religion dictates specific foods and rituals that might not suit a diabetic. Prayer positions can restrict blood flow to feet and legs which can cause serious problems people with diabetes. Fasting can lower blood sugar levels and if fasts are ended with specific high sugar/fat foods, that can send levels even higher. Find out what to do and how to manage diabetes to suit your religion.
The EarlyBird Diabetes Study
Diabetes doesn't develop overnight - the fuse starts burning long before symptoms begin, probably from early childhood.
Three hundred schoolchildren from the new Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth are helping the research team. They have been recruited at the age of five into a 12 year prospective study. Every six months they volunteer to have a detailed health check, or 'MOT'. An annual blood test looks for the earliest signs of the metabolic changes that lead to diabetes.
For further details of the study you can visit the website on www.earlybirddiabetestrust.org or email [email protected]
Join Dr Mark Porter for Case Notes on Diabetes on Tuesday 14th September 2004.
Next series
The next series of Case Notes is back on Tuesday 14th December 2004.
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RELATED LINKS
EarlyBird Diabetes Trust
Think Well to be Well
Gi Dieting
Diabetes UK
Diabetes UK (Scotland)
Diabetes UK (Cymru)
European Diabetes League
Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust
International Diabetes Federation - Europe (IDF Europe)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Net Doctor
NHS Direct
BBC Health News
BBC Health
BBC Webguide - Health
Dr Foster
Telegraph Health
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
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