Why exactly rates of Type 1 diabetes are rising around the world, Prof Lefebvre told the delegates, was a great mystery of our time.

The main message in regards to Type 1 was that those horrific photos we've seen of emaciated children dying before insulin was discovered in the early 20th century, still happens today and the Porfessor stated, repeatedly: "This is unacceptable." He was encouraged that the issue was gaining pace, with the cover of Lantus journal 3 weeks ago addressing the issue of insulin availability. He applauded the work of Australian organsiation Insulin for Life, and explained that the IDF now have a formal contract with them to support their work. Also explained that one of the drug companies had offered to 48 of the poorest countries in the world insulin at 20% of the regular cost and only a very few took up the offer - and even in these countries insulin was still sold to people with diabetes at the original price. "This is unacceptable." We have a long way to go.

He went on to show some very interesting work he and his team had done to develop advice about the amount of carbohydrate required or the amount of insulin reduction required to do different types of exercise for different amounts of time, and different body weights. He has done a lot of work into different types of exercise causing sugars to go up or down and why it's different. These tables are published in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, March 2006, in an article by Perkins and Riddell - see the link below.

There were many references in his talk to "Toronto insulin" which made me laugh. I eventually worked out they meant regular insulin as opposed to Humalog or Lantus or any of this new- fangled stuff, the original Banting & Best stuff discovered in Toronto!

President of the International Diabetes Federation and Australian paediatric endo, Professor Martin Silink, has said that the resolution will also "ask for all member organisations to establish national policies on the treatment, prevention and care of diabetes." Could mean we get some guidelines for ADULTS with Type 1 at last! Here's hoping. Lots of people here are wearing lovely blue circle badges in support of the Resolution. I think it's just the big wigs who get them!

Nicole gave a terrific talk about her experience of becoming a mother earlier this year. She spoke of the fear and anxiety of being pregnant with diabetes in a really touching and powerful way.

She pulled her endo Lois Jovanovic up on stage - who was one of the first people, 25 years ago, to say "why can't diabetic women have babies? let's see if we can find a way that we can?" and has since, literally, written the book on it. This tiny, passionate woman is however somewhat controversial, as I'm sure your endo can confirm!

Nicole and Dr Jovanovic spoke of some research that Nicole participated in during her pregnancy where Dr J is showing that pregnancy is indeed a miracle in many ways, and the growth factor it produces may be actually causing islet regeneration in women with Type 1 during their pregnancies. This does of course stop at labour and may go part way to explain why many women find that things go absolutely haywire immediately after the birth, they said. I was intruigued to hear that nicoel foudn participating in this research was a terrific distraction from all her fears and worries during the pregnancy and helped her keep calm and focused.

Another interesting point came up in question time where Nicole talked of the support her husband provided, primarily helping her work through fears and anxieties about pregnancy that stemmed from being told she'd never have children at diagnosis - just 15 years ago - but also that upon proposing to her she said she wouldn't give him an answer until he had experienced at least the physical elements of diabetes for 3 days - worn a pump, done test, carb counted etc. He did so, and she said yes, of course. I wonder how our Aussie guys would feel about this demand? The thought of that conversation in my relationship is making me laugh out loud, but maybe it's worth a go? I do like her style!

I must dash back to the conference now, so will write up my copious notes and photos of her slides a bit later. Also, the following session on whether non- invasive continuous monitoring is ever going to arrive was also good. Answer is it's a long way off, but a few promising places to watch that I will write more about next time.

For Melburnians - Don't forget the Christmas Party we are hosting on Wednesday, 20th December from 7pm at The Emerald Hotel, 415 Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. All welcome - friends and family. Kid-friendly too. RSVP ESSENTIAL. We're working on a slideshow from CapeTown, including my video of a very interesting Gospel preacher in full flight!

Cheers,

Kate Gilbert
REALITY CHECK
it's young adults who happen to have diabetes