What Message Would You Give To Others? This World Diabetes Day

The American Recall Center is an organisation based in the US that provides drug and medical device recall information, alongside the provision of practical information and support for patients and really anyone who needs it. And one of their conditions of interest is the area of diabetes, because it's not just the UK that is in the situation of an epidemic with it at the moment.

In the United States of America alone the different types of diabetes currently effect a staggering 25 million people. Thats a massive 8.3% of the entire population of America. A further 8 million of those 25 million people are currently undiagnosed with the condition, so unaware that they have it and at risk. And so the American Recall Center or ARC for short have taken up the massive task of educating the masses and spreading awareness of everything from symptoms of diabetes to what to expect from care givers of the condition.

Many of us with diabetes know that each individual case is different, but what makes someone have diabetes is not. And whilst it's nice to know that we're not alone in having the condition, it is still integral to make others aware of the risks. Whether their on this side of the pond or the other the message is the same regarding diabetes prevention and education. But speaking of messages- this is one of the main communication topics for World Diabetes Day this year. I think that working together saying the same thing, we're stronger and can effect more people. But the question is what message would you yourself give others this World Diabetes Day?

I've found in the past that a message from one person to the next can sometimes reach and effect someone more than just a generic slogan. That's why I believe in the importance of giving talks and presentations and telling an individual account of what it's like living with diabetes. And on the opposing side, when other people have spoken and I've gone along to listen it's so nice when you can share an experience and find out your not alone.

My Message this World Diabetes Day 2013

The message that I would like to give this World Diabetes Day- Is that
'You don't need to feel alone in having the condition of diabetes. There are people to speak to and others that would benefit from sharing experiences with you! So speak up and speak out in celebration of having diabetes!'

So what message would you like to share this #WDD?

Some of the messages that people in America with diabetes wanted to share were about living with diabetes and getting others to understand what it's like, speaking about facts opposed to myths about the condition. So that other people are less judgemental. They also shared their hopes for the condition in the future. In order to share some of the views that they collected, the American Recall Center created an infographic- a visual representation of the information. In order for everyone to share on social media, and through this share the message about diabetes. Upon reading the infographic myself I couldn't believe how much of the information applied to how I felt and thought about my diabetes. So share away, I'll be tweeting this from my Twitter account so feel free to retweet and share on Facebook.

With thanks to the American Recall Center for their statistics on diabetes and infographic, original article available here