Greetings!

Hi everyone and welcome to the October edition of Yada Yada - we've got a big issue for you this month.     

Are you planning to celebrate World Diabetes Day on November 14? We'll have a special edition of Yada announcing the winner of the Seed Award, and there are a lot of other things happening around the country to celebrate. We'd love to hear about anything you have planned. The International Diabetes Foundation has some ideas for activities to mark the day, as well as videos of flash mobs from WDD last year.

On November 12, we are running our second webinar, sponsored by the OneTouch Verio IQ meter, with ultra-marathon runner and type 1 diabetic Roger Hanney. We now have an online process to register, so it's easy to let us know you'll be there.

You can keep up to date throughout the month by following us on twitter @T1DN and liking our popular Facebook page.    

Tell us about your experiences with pumps and health insurance   

  For more information go to www.accu-check.com.au

HbA1c conversion tool - check this out!    

If you've had your HbA1c measured recently, you may have noticed a second number reported alongside the familiar % reading. Confused? This is still the same test, but expressed in different units - millimoles per mole (mmol/mol) instead of percentage. The change is being made so that a standard measurement is used worldwide. It also means that there will be less confusion between blood glucose levels and HbA1c results. After July 2013, the new mmol/mol measurement will be the only number reported.

As an example, a HbA1c of 7% converts to 53 mmol/mol in the new system. There is a handy conversion tool at NPS MedicineWise that you may like to bookmark.

If you want to know more about HbA1c, what it measures, how it is tested and much more, check out the informative article on our website.  

  For more information go to www.sweettalkdiabetes.com

2012 Seed Award nominees  

Our annual T1DN Seed Award, proudly sponsored by Roche in 2012, recognises individuals and groups whose commitment and initiative have made a difference in the type 1 community. 

We are happy to announce that the finalists for this year's award are HypoActive, Rachel Lamb, Sheree Jane Rennie and Susanne Baxandall, advocacy coordinator at DA Vic. The winner will be profiled in a special edition of Yada Yada on World Diabetes Day, November 14.

We mentioned an inspiring T1 rock climber in last month's Yada, and now we've heard about another!

Eiger North Face (Philippe Volle)

Jerry Gore is a 51 year old T1 diabetic who has just completed his incredibly tough "insulin challenge" - climbing the three hardest alpine climbs in Europe (Mt Blanc in France, the Eiger North Face in Switzerland and Marmolada in Italy). Fewer than 20 climbers in the world have done all three routes - an amazing feat under ordinary circumstances let alone while managing T1D. It was all to raise money to support 10 young diabetics in Nepal, through Australian-based Insulin For Life. Despite his amazing achievement, Jerry is still short of his funding goal and would appreciate any support.

You can read the reports of his climbs and find out more about his challenge on his Facebook page.

Go Jerry! You rock!

  For more information go to http://www.myfreestyle.com.au/cathy

Getting diabetes after illness or trauma   

Everyone is curious about what causes T1D, and one theory that's often raised is whether illness or trauma could play a part. Recently, some Reality Check members have been having a fascinating discussion sharing their own diagnosis stories.

But are these just coincidences that we focus on while searching for an explanation or is there something to it? We wanted to know more and have done a little searching.

At the moment, there is no direct, conclusive evidence of anything causing the onset of type 1. No-one knows! Part of the reason for this is that it's hard to pinpoint the exact time the disease starts as the autoimmune attack can begin months before symptoms.

However, certain viruses are thought to be linked to T1, including some that are known to cause meningitis and pancreatitis and can infect beta cells in the pancreas. And there are other possibilities, including gut bacteria and vitamin D levels.

Whatever the cause, the prevalence of T1D is increasing, so it seems that whatever the triggers are, they are becoming more common too. Diet? Pollution? Viruses? What do you think?

  For more information go to http://www.onetouch.com.au/

PatientView directory of health apps  

  For more information go to www.accu-chek.com.au/mobile.    

Can a type 1s own beta cells recover/regenerate if they are protected from the body's autoimmune attack? The cells that normally have this protection duty are called T regulatory (or Treg) cells. These cells have been shown to be missing from the pancreas of mice with T1 diabetes.

In these mice, researchers restored normal levels of Treg cells to the pancreas and the mice produced insulin again and regained normal blood sugars. The method used cannot be directly transferred to humans, but it opens another avenue for a cure. We keep hoping that one day the case will be cracked and a cure will be found.

  For more information go to http://www.t1dstars.com 

T1DN webinar

World Diabetes Day in Rockhampton
Rockhampton will celebrate World Diabetes Day with the 'Stanwell Electric Blue Fashion Show' on Friday 9 November at the Riverside Markets. This event features local bands, dance, wearable art competitions and markets. The Riverside Boardwalk, Customs House and boats on the river will be lit up with blue light. This Reality Check thread has more details.    

  For more information go to Roche pump therapy 

Interesting links 

Often when we are searching for content for Yada we come across links that aren't quite right for full articles, but seem too good to let go. Some of these may come through on our Twitter feed (@T1DN), but we've included some here we thought you might find of interest.

• Video stories from people who contracted T1D as adults   
• History of the last 200 years of diabetes from the New England Journal of Medicine   
• Behavioral Diabetes Institute survey for partners of people with T1   
• Diabetes Art Day was September 24 - Check out the contributions 
• Off topic, but apparently if we want Australia to win more Nobel Prizes we have to eat more chocolate. We're doing our part :) 

• Having skin issues with pump sites 
• Prickless glucose monitoring 
• Camps/events for teens in WA 

From everyone at  

The Type 1 Diabetes Network