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06 July 2010

Diabetes Awareness Week 2010

Diabetes Australia-NSW will be spreading the message across the state about the link between diabetes and kidney disease this Diabetes Awareness Week from 11-17 July.

25 June 2010

Congratulations to Jimmy Little on success at APRA awards

Diabetes Australia-NSW would like to congratulate Jimmy Little after he was recognised on Monday for his achievements in music.

07 July 2010

New type 2 diabetes medication may help in type 1

A new medication for type 2 diabetes may also benefit those with type 1, reducing the rise in blood glucose levels following a meal and possibly lowering insulin needs.

29 June 2010

Insulin pump prevents night-time hypos

A special insulin pump which uses continuous glucose monitoring to predict hypoglycaemia and stop delivering insulin can help reduce the number of overnight hypos, according to a new study.

The faces of diabetes

Chris Lennox Christopher Lennox didn't make his face masks to hide behind. Instead, he used them to highlight his diabetes.

When the 18-year-old from Lithgow was handed his major Visual Arts project for the Higher School Certificate, he decided to show everyone what it was like to have type 1 diabetes – in a very graphic way.

He created four masks, moulded from his own face, each uniquely decorated to represent a different side of living with the disease.

One was his face as it appeared normally. Another was covered with salt, a visual substitute for sugar. Another was covered with lolly wrappers.

The fourth had a cratered surface using polystyrene balls, making the face appear as if it was being eaten away, “to represent what can happen if you don’t look after yourself properly,” says Christopher.

He named the series, which also included a bust of his whole head, ‘Novo Fine Nightmare’.

“I wanted to raise awareness of the disease among other school kids,” says Christopher. “I also wanted to show that if you have diabetes, you are no different to anyone else.”

Dianne Perriman, Diabetes Educator at Lithgow Hospital, was so taken by the masks, she displayed them on her office wall. She even presented them to the local support group.

“People responded with fascination and awe. Everyone who saw them was curious at first. Then when I explained what the masks were about, they were stunned,” says Dianne.

“What touched me most was that, out of everything his art project could’ve been on – out of everything to pour his heart and soul into – Chris chose his diabetes. That was very powerful to me.

“It just shows how all-consuming diabetes can be.”

Christopher, who was diagnosed three years ago, speaks of the masks and his diabetes with a maturity beyond his years. “I accept that it’s part of my life and I just do it. I don’t hide the fact I have diabetes and I share it with everyone.”

He has no particular plans for the masks, but Dianne is urging him not to throw them away. “I keep telling him that one day he’ll regret it if he does. They’re a part of who he is and he really should keep them, even if just for himself.”

Apart from Dianne’s patients, Christopher’s friends and family have been the only ones to see the masks. So what did his mates think of them?

“They thought the heads were just as ugly as me,” he says with a laugh.