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Greetings!
Hi everyone and welcome to the August edition of Yada Yada.
We have another big issue this month including an update on the standards that affect how T1s get a driver's licence as well as research into type 1 diagnosis rates and life expectancy.
We are also excited to let you know that we've increased our social media presence with the relaunch of the T1DN Twitter account. Our twitter account is https://twitter.com/T1DN and you can follow us @T1DN. This adds to our already popular Facebook page. So like us, follow us and share your tweets with us.
 
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Driving and diabetes
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 In March's Yada Yada we told you about updated fitness to drive standards put out by Austroads that included a requirement for 'satisfactory control' of diabetes to get a driver's licence. While a little ambiguous, 'satisfactory control' seemed to be defined as having an HbA1c < 9% in the last 3 months.
This started discussions on Reality Check about whether having an HbA1c < 9% meant you were a safer driver and whether this was a reasonable regulation to be imposed on people with type 1.
 In April, T1DN wrote to the Driving and Diabetes Working Party (who coordinated the diabetes section of the standards) to clarify this issue and query whether there was an evidence base for this requirement. We haven't received a response as yet. In late July, we also wrote to Austroads and our letter was passed on to the National Transport Commission.
We think this is an important issue for everyone with type 1 diabetes and hope that T1DN can advocate for clear, evidence-based guidelines that improve road safety.
We'd love to hear your personal experiences with the changes when getting your licence renewed. You can share them with others on this thread on our RC forums. We'll keep you updated as we learn more.
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*****************Sponsored Announcement*****************
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For more information go to http://www.myfreestyle.com.au/cathy
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Does T1 have an environmental cause?
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According to researchers in Western Australia there may be a 5-year cycle in the number of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. They studied type 1 diagnosis rates in WA for children under 15 from 1985-2010 and found that the incidence of type 1 increased by 2.3% a year, but there was also a 5-year cyclical variation.
To explain this cycle, there may be a factor in the onset of type 1 that also has a cyclical nature. Potential cyclical factors include infections and may point to an environmental cause of T1 in children. The triggers are still not understood, but the same cyclical patterns of diagnosis rates have been reported in northeast England, which shows that this is a global phenomenon. This is fascinating data that definitely needs more research!
The research was originally published in Diabetes Care.
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*****************Sponsored Announcement*****************
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For more information go to Roche pump therapy
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Congratulations Kate Gilbert!
|  Congratulations to our founder and former president, Kate Gilbert, who has just had an article published in the prestigious Diabetes Spectrum journal. Kate's article discusses the research she conducted with users of the Reality Check forum - perhaps you were involved? You can read the abstract of the article here.
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Seed Award nominations closing soon
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 Last month we called for nominations for our annual Seed Award and they are still open but close Sunday 9th September. The award recognises people who make a difference in the type 1 community and includes a $350 cash prize. It is given to an individual or group that has:
- provided support, information and/or a voice for the type 1 community
- demonstrated initiative and intelligence in their endeavours
- been committed to the principle that people living with type 1 diabetes can and should have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
Who do you know who makes a difference to people with type 1? Please nominate them for this year's award. In your nomination, include a brief description of how the nominee meets each criterion along with the nominee's and your contact details. To get an idea about the type of nominations we're looking for, read about previous years' winners: the fantastic Cheryl Steele and Helen Edwards.
Email your nominations (or any questions you have) to Natasha at natasha@d1.org.au before Sunday 9th September.
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*****************Sponsored Announcement*****************
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Call 1800 777 808 (option 3) or go to www.medtronic-diabetes.com.au for more information
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T1 life spans getting longer
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Recent US research showed that life expectancy for people with type 1 had increased by more than 15 years! Researchers compared the life spans of people diagnosed with type 1 before turning 17 between 1950 and 1964 and those diagnosed from 1965-1980. Life expectancy between these two groups increased from 53.4 to 68.8 years.
What a great demonstration of the benefits that improved technology and management have on increasing length and quality of life for people with T1!
The abstract of the article is available on the Diabetes journal website.
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*****************Sponsored Announcement*****************
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For more information go to http://www.onetouch.com.au/
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Pump use on the increase
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The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recently released its Insulin pump use in Australia report that looks at trends in pump use since 2004 using data from the NDSS and a 2011 survey with 5680 responses. The report has some interesting findings, a number of which are outlined below.
 About 10% of type 1s in Australia now use pumps (10,510 in total), with half the users younger than 25. An increasing number of newly diagnosed people now start on pumps without ever being on multiple daily injections (MDIs) and 18% of people start using a pump within 2 years of diagnosis. Pump usage increased after 2004 when the NDSS started subsidising pump consumables, with the number of new pump users each month increasing from 107 to 140.
The most common benefit mentioned by pump users was that the pump fitted their lifestyle better. However, 23% of people had taken a temporary break from using their pump at some stage. The most common issues reported by pumpers included continual reliance on an external device, air bubbles, lines kinking, skin irritation at the pump site and the expense of consumables. Pump consumables are more expensive than those for MDIs ($29 vs $6 per month).
The full report can be accessed from the AIHW website.
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Meet-ups and events
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First ever T1DN webinar - next week!
T1DN will host our first ever webinar on Tuesday 4 September from 8-9 pm (eastern time). Kate Gilbert, our founder and former president, will talk about diabetes burnout and share her toolkit for living real life with diabetes, which is full of tips and tricks collected from the shared experiences of people with type 1 gathered over many years of working with the type 1 community.
If you would like to register your interest or have any questions please email Natasha at natasha@d1.org.au.
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Quick shots
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Hot topics on the Reality Check online forum include:
On Munted Pancreas, parents of kids with D are discussing:
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Thanks for reading, and don't forget you can always send us your feedback and comments by replying to this email. See you next time!
From everyone at The Type 1 Diabetes Network |
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