Charity and Voluntary Sector
DUK: Earlier this year the transport minister, Mike Penning MP, announced he intended to bring forward the implementation of an EC Directive for people with diabetes to October 2011. From October, people with diabetes who experience hypos may have their licences revoked if they report 2 severe episodes in a 12-month period.
Diabetes UK has concerns that this is open to misinterpretation. Simon O'Neill, Director of Care, Information and Advocacy at Diabetes UK, said; "People can often experience hypos when asleep, and we believe night-time hypos have no medical basis of relevance to driving”. You can find out more about driving & diabetes in their Guide to diabetes, and read DUK’s full position statement around the proposed changes to the law.
CRUK: Britons have very low awareness of the signs & symptoms of bowel cancer – the third most common cancer in the UK and second largest cause of cancer deaths each year, new research shows. A Cancer Research UK-funded study, published recently in BMC Cancer also found that the public didn’t know that lifestyle factors like diet, weight & exercise can affect a person’s risk of developing bowel cancer.
DUK: Offering finger prick tests during opticians’ appointments could help to identify people at risk of Type 2 diabetes, a study has suggested. However, Diabetes UK have stated that finger prick tests can often be misleading, and recommend that people with one or more risk factors should see their GP instead to see if they are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
