Not only was the topic one close to my heart, but they had someone on the program who actually has the condition and do it justice by talking about it from personal experience. The program was due on at 9pm and Twitter and Facebook were alive with comments from people asking each other if they'd be tuning in. Which was evidence of the enthusiasm for the event because 'I'm a Celebrity' started this Sunday too! The program was featured on Aled Jones' show (who happens to be Welsh) on Radio 1's Sunday surgery, where he's joined by Dr Radha Modgil and listeners can ring in with comments and questions about life, health and beyond. But this evening they were joined by Jen Grieves- someone who not only works on the Radio 1 show with them but who also has Type 1 diabetes.
The diabetes segment of the show began with Aled asking Jen to explain exactly what diabetes was, which is a great place to start. Because if we're going to raise awareness of the condition, then we have to put it in a way that people will understand and recognise especially if their at risk of it. In my opinion Jen did a great job of explaining type 1 and type 2 diabetes as two different conditions with similar aspects. Which is important as a common misconception of the condition of diabetes is to mix the two up or combine them as one.
Jen also explained diabetes in terms of her own experience- that she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 8 and was on multiple injections. She even gave a great account of what it was like growing up with type 1 diabetes in school and the reactions from her teachers about the condition and them not knowing much about it. This was great to hear, as it's important to know that we all weren't alone in going through difficult times growing up. And people thinking they know more about diabetes than they do. It was at this point I felt it was important to tweet in and say how good I thought the explanation was. Too often people comment on the bad, but not so often on the good- which the explanation was. The tweet was read out on air which was awesome!
The surgery program then went on to take questions from callers by phone, text and twitter. There were a real mixture of people contacting the show, which was great to hear that so many of them were interested in the topic of diabetes. The first caller was concerned that he might catch diabetes because he drank so many sugary drinks. This was a great topic to call about because those of us with the condition know that you can't catch diabetes. So Dr Radha was able to put him right about how you actually get diabetes- not through catching it but more often in Type 2 through poor diet. She was able to convince him to cut down on his sugar intake and maybe see a doctor himself to get a urine test. I then sent in a question about diabetes and sport- I mentioned that I'm an athlete and that this helps my blood sugars, so I asked what was Jen's advice for good blood sugar control? Which was read out too. It was great to hear at the end of the article, all three broadcaster's commented that sport can be one of the best ways to control your blood sugar levels. So finger's crossed that if just some of those millions of listener's heard the surgery on diabetes- they'll now know to be aware, know the symptoms and will hopefully of had some of the myths dispelled about the condition too.
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