Diabetes

Diabetes UK’s friendly and very active Exeter group are looking to recruit more volunteers to take on two important and currently ‘virtual’ roles.

Full training and support are available for creative and enthusiastic people who would like to get involved either in fundraising, to help raise money for local diabetes research, or in organising peer support for the group.

Both roles are key to supporting people living with diabetes and also offer the volunteer an excellent opportunity to learn new skills.

As a fundraiser, you’ll need to be approachable, proactive,...

Andrew Hattersley, Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Exeter and diabetes consultant at the Royal Devon & Exeter NS Foundation Trust, has won the Baillet Latour Health Prize 2020. The award will be presented by the Queen of Belgium on Tuesday.

Professor Hattersley was awarded the prize for his fundamental discoveries about diabetes that have changed the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of the genetic forms of this disease. The virtual award ceremony can be viewed via a live broadcast at 9.30am UK time on Tuesday December 1 .

Professor...

To mark World Mental Health Day on Saturday 10th October, an Exeter woman who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just nine-years-old, shares her journey from ‘model diabetic,’ to enforced hospitalization, and back again - to highlight the psychological difficulties of managing the condition.

When Pippa Anning, now 23, first learned she had diabetes she was at primary school. Despite her young age, and with the support of both her family and the children’s diabetes group, Exeter Snack Pack, she handled her condition so well she soon earned the moniker ‘model diabetic’ by her...

A new approach to predicting which babies will develop type 1 diabetes moves a step closer to routine testing for newborns which could avoid life-threatening complications.

Scientists at seven international sites have followed 7,798 children at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes from birth, over nine years, in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) Study. The TEDDY Study is a large international study funded primarily by the US National Institutes of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control, as well as by the charity JDRF.

In research...

An award of almost £1 million will help scientists at the University of Exeter unravel the genetics mysteries of a rare form of diabetes, and could help identify a new form of the condition.

Dr Kash Patel, of the University of Exeter Medical School, has secured the funding under the Wellcome Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship.

Over five years, Dr Patel will study Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY), a rare genetic form of diabetes which can be passed down through families. It is caused by a defect in one of 14 genes, many of them discovered at the...

Diabetes UK is urging parents not to let coronavirus fears stop them from seeking medical help if they’re worried their child is showing the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes.

Echoing comments made on Wednesday (8th April) by Professor Stephen Powis, National Medical Director of NHS England that the public should – as they always have done – seek emergency care if they need it, the charity is reminding parents of the 4Ts of type 1 diabetes, and reassuring them that if they need urgent help – the NHS is open.

Type 1 diabetes is the most common form in children and...

A £6 million Government award will enable Exeter’s globally-renowned diabetes research to expand to the next level, enabling even more benefit to patient care.

The major investment is part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. The award to the University of Exeter, working in partnership with the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, is designed to take areas of research which are excellent yet relatively small, and enable them to build to the next level. Across the UK, government is providing the biggest boost to research and development funding in UK history,...

World-renowned diabetes researcher Professor Andrew Hattersley has been named as one of ‘The Nation’s Lifesavers’ in the Made@Uni campaign.

The award recognises his research into causes, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes which has improved the lives of people with diabetes across the world.

Professor Hattersley, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “It’s an honour to be included in the list for Universities UK’s National Lifesavers campaign. This award is testament to the whole Exeter diabetes research team whose work over the past 25 years has improved...

Two young brothers have been commended for knowing what to do in an emergency.

Their dad, March Le-fey, had a seizure caused by hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) at the family home in Whipton, Exeter.

He had collapsed, was unconscious, and needed urgent medical help.

Six-year-old, Isaac, called for help from his nine-year-old brother, Elliot who dialled 999.

Elliot told South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) 999 Call Handler Lucy Frith exactly what was wrong.

The boys and their family made a special visit to the SWASFT Control...

An innovative new programme to prevent people in Devon developing Type 2 diabetes, has been developed by Devon County Council. The service, provided by Exminster-based charity Westbank Community Health and Care (Westbank) will begin this month.

In Devon there are around 79,000 people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. However, many of the risk factors associated with developing Type 2 diabetes are preventable through lifestyle changes.

'Healthier Devon' is a new support programme for people at the highest risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Once referred by their GP,...