National Diabetes Week Highlights Growing Epidemic
The University of Melbourne - Mobile Learning Unit has developed a course on What’s New in Diabetes. This e-learning course provides an evidence-based update for clinicians on the novel medications and emerging technologies available to improve outcomes in people with diabetes. Our course director Elif Ekinci, Director of Diabetes at Austin Health, has been featured on ABC, Diabetes Australia, Channel 9, Channel 10 during National Diabetes Week 2019.
Associate Professor Ekinci (MBBS FRACP PhD) is a clinician researcher and is the Sir Edward Dunlop Medical Research Foundation Principal Research Fellow in Metabolic Medicine The University of Melbourne. Her research focus is diabetes and its complications, aiming to significantly improve clinical practice and health outcomes.
The Diabetes condition in Australia is now an epidemic that affects more than 1/3 of hospital patients and 500,000 Australians remain undiagnosed. People living with diabetes are "frequent flyers" in Australian hospitals because of diabetes-related complications such as heart attacks, strokes and amputations.
According to ABC, our Community 'doesn't connect the dots' and work together to raise the collective awareness to this disease. Even people who live healthy lifestyles, who exercise regularly and might be young of age, are still at risk of developing diabetes. Aboriginal Australians are more likely to develop diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians.
This article from ABC featured John Pahos, who was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 as a surprise: “I didn’t the slightest idea that I could have type 2 diabetes. I’ve been the same weight for fifteen years, I walk 15,000 steps-a-day and I generally watch what I eat.
Key statistics and facts:
- Every 5 minutes someone in Australia develop diabetes.
- 1.7 million Australians have diabetes, and a further 2 million are at high-risk of developing it.
- 500,000 people across Australia may have the disease without knowing
- An average of 34% of patients at the hospital had diabetes
- Full cost of diabetes to the Australian economy is estimated to be $14 billionsper year
- Diabetes Will Be The 7th Leading Cause of Death By 2030 By WHO
- Aboriginal Australians are more likely to develop diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians.
Reference:
[1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2018-09-04/understanding-type-2-diabetes/10160234
[2] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-14/diabetes-the-silent-killer-overwhelming-australian-hospitals/11307564
What can you do to help?
- Buy the full course to support us for further medical online learning.
- Read, Practice, Communicate, and Teach others about any diabetes updates.
- Share the course link with your network on Facebook or Email.