Diabetics Dialogue – Katherine And Chris

Welcome to Diabetic Dialogue. We are keeping the conversations going about diabetes. And I'm Sandra Ewers and we're on Women's Radio station Today. My guests are Katherine Kirchner. She's a clinical advisor from Diabetes uk, the charity who support and raise awareness about diabetes. And I shall also be speaking to Chris Allen. Chris is from Tring Martial Arts in Hertfordshire. Chris has been raising money for Diabetes uk, but I'll let him reveal all. Thank you for listening. Well, I'd like to welcome Kathryn Kirchner. She's a clinical advisor at Diabetes uk. They are a charity who are fighting that cause on diabetes. Welcome, Catherine. Thank you, Sandra. Thanks for having me. It's very good to have you here. I've got a few questions that I want to let our listeners know. These are some important questions. I know that people think they know what diabetes is, but can I ask you the question, what is diabetes? Yeah. So diabetes is a condition where there's too much glucose or sugar in somebody's bloodstream, and that's because the body can't use it properly. So in the case of type 1 diabetes, that sugar is too high because the body can't produce any insulin at all. And in the case of type 2 diabetes, that's where the body doesn't produce enough insulin or the insulin that somebody produces doesn't work properly in the body. Okay, that makes absolute sense. So what causes diabetes? I know that you say the body can't produce it. What causes it? Why should somebody get diabetes? We know it's out of their control. Why would they get that then? What causes it? Yeah, we don't actually know what causes for sure, either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. So we know that there's certain things that are linked with people developing those different two types of diabetes, but we actually don't know the exact causes yet. And that's an area that our research is obviously extremely important in finding out what the clear causes are of the condition. Absolutely. And in terms of the symptoms, I'm a type 2 diabetic myself. I discovered I had it last year. What symptoms would a person be looking out for? Because I was getting symptoms but wasn't noticing them, if that makes any sense. It's only looking back. I realized I had symptoms. So what are they looking out for? Yeah. So, Sandra, you're certainly not alone in that. A lot of people, when they're diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, they don't necessarily think, oh, they're symptoms that, you know, I've noticed. But once you Start to think about it and you join things together, it becomes a little bit more obvious. So the symptoms of having diabetes, and that could be type 1 or type 2 diabetes, because these are the symptoms of having that high blood glucose or high blood sugar. And it's things like feeling quite tired, which can be put down to many sort of factors, drinking lots of water. So in the summer months, we could just put that down to it being a little bit warmer, going to the toilet to pass urine more frequently, and you could just link that to drinking more, really. And perhaps infections or other sorts of illnesses, cuts and wounds that don't heal as quickly, but certainly feeling tired, feeling thirsty and passing urine more often are the big ones to look out for. Right. Because thank you very much for telling us that. And I had many of those symptoms but did ignore them. So listeners out there, don't forget, if you do have any of those symptoms, you must go and see your GP and speak to somebody professional. Thank you very much for telling us that, Katherine. But what happens when you do have those symptoms and you go to your gp? How would they generally treat it? Say you were type one. How would they treat diabetes? Could you please tell our listeners how it's treated? Yeah. So type 1 diabetes people need insulin to live. So for the rest of their life, they'll be either injecting insulin via sort of a pen, a device that looks like a pen with a small needle on the end. So they'll be injecting insulin into their body, or using an insulin pump, which delivers a small, steady trickle of insulin sort of 24 hours a day, and can deliver more insulin when a person's eating, to help. To help that process as well. Okay. And I take metformin, which are tablets that were prescribed for me, to obviously help sort of generate insulin. Are all type 2 sufferers prescribed metformin, or is it just depending upon your blood glucose levels? Is that how it works? Yeah. So it really depends on the person and certainly their blood glucose levels, but lots of other factors as well. So some people with type 2 diabetes are able to bring their blood glucose levels into what we would call sort of a target range to avoid the complications of diabetes. Some people can do that by increasing their exercise and making healthy changes to their diet. People need to do that in conjunction with some tablets like Metformin, like yourself. And some people with type 2 diabetes also take insulin to help them reduce their blood sugar levels as well. So it's really very different for different people. Right, and are we looking at an age Range. Is there a particular age range of people who get type 2 diabetes or who get type 1 diabetes? Is there a particular age? Yes. So for type 1 diabetes, it was previously described as sort of a condition of childhood or juvenile diabetes, but what we know now is about half of people who are diagnosed with type one are under the age of 18 and the other half are actually over the age of 18, so, well, sort of into adulthood. So it can occur at any age. And type 2 diabetes is the same. Historically, we were sort of seeing it in older people, perhaps in their 50s and 60s, but as our lifestyles have changed, we're seeing that diagnosis in younger people. And as genetics change as well, and some communities, particularly in black, Asian and other sort of minority ethnic groups, we're seeing diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, sort of, for people in their 20s and even younger than that. So really, both conditions can occur at any age. I have had heard of that and I've also heard that because obviously the society is getting. We are growing in our. You know, there's more food around us that children are. There are a lot bigger children. Not, no insult, but children are generally larger. You know, there's more food to supply to us. Is that the case or is that not the case? Yeah, look, it definitely is. Certainly there is more food available. Certainly foods that are high in free sugars and added fats and salt are all around us. We've got lots of advertising and different sort of cues telling us that we should eat these foods. So, you know, we're working hard to create an environment where the healthy choice is the easy choice for somebody to make, to hopefully reduce those rates of people having those risk factors for type 2 diabetes. So being overweight or obese and, you know, not exercising enough and sort of not having a healthy diet. So we're confident that all of the programs that we run and the research we do can really help to turn that around. Fabulous. And so I can hear that you've said you're doing research and I know that as a charity. What else do you do? I know I've got to say that, first of all, say a big thank you, because in my own situation, Diabetes UK helped me because I was able to go onto your website and find out things, things I didn't know, and it was very supportive. There were things about diet and I used that information to support myself, to decide what I was going to eat, and it just gave me good advice. So what else do you actually do in terms of community work? Yeah, that's great to Hear. Sandra, thank you very much. Certainly, we do have our website and I would recommend anyone who has diabetes or is living with a family member or someone they love with diabetes to go onto our website and to learn a little bit more about the condition and how you can support yourself or that other person. We also have a helpline which is staffed by trained counsellors, which people can phone us up. In addition to our website, we help people around the UK to run local support groups and people can find the details of those on our website as well if they're looking to connect with other people with diabetes in their area. We obviously have a really large fundraising division. We run lots of different challenge events. People can sign up for marathons or, you know, whatever takes their fancies, help raise money for diabetes. And then obviously, we have an enormous research division as well, and we invest many millions of pounds in research each year to look into the causes of diabetes, effective treatments, early detection, you know, just about anything to do with diabetes, really. So we are quite busy. That is really good to know. And it does sound that you are very busy. So is that what you're hoping to achieve? Is that what Diabetes UK are hoping to achieve? Are they looking for a cure or a preventative? Is that what they're looking for or just, you know, is that their goal? In the end, yeah. Our vision, Sandra, is to create a world where diabetes can do no harm. So, you know, to reduce the amount of people who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and to, you know, provide the best support and advice to people who are living with diabetes so that that impacts on their life in the absolute smallest way possible. So that's what we're hoping to achieve. That is very good to hear. And if you could just give a message to our listeners, what would your message be in terms of diabetes? And it's not passing judgment, because that's what I always say to anyone that has, you know, has got any sort of health issues. We're not. It's not to judge you, it's just to help you. What would your message be? Yeah, I would say diabetes is a complicated condition and living with it every day is very hard. So I would say go easy on yourself, give yourself a pat on the back for all of the wonderful things that you're doing and, you know, for everything else, try and find out a little bit more information and ask for support when you need it, because there's plenty of people around who are here to give it to you and we're all sort of willing and ready to help and get in touch with us, really connect with us in some way. Right. So they can obviously go on the webpage if they do want to connect with you and obviously if anyone wants advice, because I know that it's Diabetes awareness week is the 11th to the 17th of June, so they can contact you at any time, obviously outside of that, if they need support. Is that right? Definitely, yeah. So this week is Diabetes Week and where our sort of theme for the week is talk about diabetes. So having sort of those more difficult conversations, but making them open and honest conversations with your friends and families and, you know, employers and other people to raise awareness and to get the best care and support for all people living with diabetes. Fabulous. And a final message for me, I'd like to just thank you for the work that you do and thank you for taking the time to actually, you know, come and speak to us and give us information and the public need to know what's going on. So thank you very much, Katherine, for taking the time to talk to me and I look forward to speaking to you again. Just to let you know, in the future, we are planning a D Day event. We're trying to fight the war on diabetes, so we will be in contact with you about that. Perhaps we can discuss it further. I hope you may have time to do that in the future. Fantastic. That sounds brilliant. It's been my pleasure talking to you today, Sandra. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. Thank you. 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And while we support you with every step, you'll be doing something special to support the thousands of people going through one of the toughest challenges they'll ever face. Breast cancer. Visit breastcancercare.org.uk Walk. Women's crazy. Women's radio. Station. I would like to welcome Chris Allen. It's actually Sheehan Chris Allen from Tring Martial Arts in Hertfordshire. Welcome, Chris. Thank you, Sandra. Thank you for having me on your show. You're very, very welcome. I know that you. I understand you're doing that the Swim22 challenge for Diabetes UK. Can you tell us about that, please? Well, absolutely. And thank you for asking me to talk about it. I am. You're very welcome. I'm taking my fifth black belt test, my fifth down black belt test at the end of the year, and my master, Ken Pankiewicz, who's one of my inspirations for taking on a fitness challenge such as this, basically said, chris, you need to find yourself something that you're going to do every day for the next year and something that you are going to be able to continually do as a daily routine. And whilst I've done martial arts for about 33 years, the challenge of participating in a contact sport for that length of time is that you have, you pick up injuries and various ailments like sore shoulders and sore knees and various other things. So I was looking for a low impact but high cardiovascular activity. And because diabetes is a prevalent disease within my extended family, I was. I just felt that the tie up between their amazing Swim the Channel charity event and my challenge would marry up and it looked like something I really wanted to get into. Fabulous. So what, as you said, that diabetes is in your family and obviously I'm not veering off of the actual swim a thon that you're doing or have done. What do you know about diabetes, then, within your family? Do you know anything about it? Well, I know that it can be. In my extended family, there's a lot of people who have type 2 diabetes and a couple of that have type 1 and I just don't want to, first of all, for my own sake, I don't really want to suddenly develop that. And likewise, I want to be able to do More to help other people. And if I can do that by, by swimming every day and doing this 44 mile challenge, then I think that would be, that would be a great way for me to contribute to the, to the research and the science to cure this disease. We do commend you on what you're doing. It's fabulous. Have you completed the swim a thon or are you still in the process of actually doing this? No, not quite. The challenge that Diabetes UK organized was for you to swim the channel. But I typically, my nature is that I always want to push myself beyond what I thought possible. And because this is meant to be a longer term challenge, I thought, well, let's double it. Let's swim to France and back. So I've already hit France, I'm on my way back and I'm now at mile 36. That is amazing. And the reason I say that as a person who only Learned to swim 10 years ago, I couldn't swim before that. So I do commend you and I do think, wow, you know, what you're doing is amazing. And it's not just this is about purse, it's a personal thing as well. So that is fabulous. Let's, let's. Thank you. Ask you, how much are you planning to raise for your charity? Have you got an amount that you want to raise for Diabetes uk? Well, I first of all started off hoping that I would raise £3,000, but then I had to make, had to realize that there's lots of other charities out there doing lots of different things. So my aim is to raise a thousand pounds for Diabetes UK by completing this event. I'm currently at 501 pounds so far. Wow. Congratulations. Let me talk about you personally. You run Tring Martial Arts in Hertfordshire, is that correct? Yes, that's right. So how did you, is it Taekwondo? It's martial arts. What form of martial arts are you doing yourself? And how did this come about? Well, I started Tring Martial arts Academy in July 2005. So we're now in our 13th year. We teach a blended martial arts style called freestyle martial arts, which seeks to combine the best of kickboxing, karate, jiu jitsu and weapons training into a program that we hope will develop, deliver the best in self defense to our students. But we also teach Krav Maga, which is from Israel, which is the Israeli self defense system. And we have a fantastic children's martial art program which will help them to learn about respect, discipline, honesty, humility. I think that's never giving up. And Also teaching them valuable physical defence like self defense and how to stand up against bullies and realizing you don't need to, you know, you don't need to have physical violence in order to avoid confrontation. And it's a very popular, it's a very popular martial arts and it's very popular program for children as well. And do they do this in schools? I just wondered whether. Because I don't know whether perhaps they need some sort of discipline like that in schools. Do you know if they do that or have you ever considered taking it to schools in actual schools? I just wondered if it was in terms of the society that we're in, you know, where people are getting more and more people are getting diabetes. It might be a health thing as well as a discipline and teaching children about self control. Have you considered that thought at all? Yeah. Every day we're teaching children to be, to harness their own belief within themselves because I think that a lot of children and adults will find solace in food and comfort eats and various other things because either they feel worried or anxious or they don't have much self confidence and things like that. And I found over the last 13 years that we help people to overcome their personal challenges. So I'll give you a fantastic example. There was a lady who came and started training with me 10 years ago, was a size 20 dress. And through our training and our support, she, she lost a lot of weight, she got down to a size 10. But this lady was very, very uncomfortable in, you know, communicating with people, was very, you know, didn't have a lot of confidence in standing at the front of a class, for instance. But ironically, through the training and through the belief that we were able to instill within her, she then ended up actually teaching classes for us. That is a positive story. And if you can help one person, it's always a good news story. Now, as a final message, what would you advise somebody who did want to start doing martial arts? You know, people are nervous. It's about going to the gym, it's about going somewhere. How could somebody start out and what would they do? First of all? Well, I would always recommend that you try to find a professional school. There's a lot of very good martial arts schools in the country. Likewise, there's some ones that could do with improving. There's a martial arts school to suit every taste. From our perspective, we run a family martial arts center. So we're not a fight club. But I think it's important that people choose something that's going to keep Their interest over the long term. What I've Learned from the 13 years of martial arts teaching and 33 years of martial arts training and also with The Diabetes Swim 44 Mile Challenge, is that you need to pick a martial art or a sport or an activity that you can effectively attend at least three times a week. I found that certainly from my swimming perspective, by swimming once a week, it's never going to cut it for me. It had to be something I was going to do five days a week for my own fitness. And when people are choosing to do a martial art, look for the professional schools that can offer you the flexibility and offer you the facilities within which you can train. And a number of the full time locations around the country all aspire to give the very best quality of martial art training with the very best quality of instructors with the best facilities possible. Because, you know martial arts and the training we offer and the physical training, why does it have to be just in school halls or church halls twice a week? Why can't it be like gymnasiums or health clubs? I understand that. Thank you very much. We'd like to say thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us. Everything that you've said has been very interesting and obviously our listeners out there, we know they can contact Tring Martial Arts in Hertfordshire if they want to get hold of you. And also we'd like to say congratulations on doing the charity swim. Good luck with everything and thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us and have a good enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you for having me on your show. You are very welcome. Thanks everyone for listening and you can continue. Catch me on my next show. Let's keep the conversation going. Bye. We care about social change within communities around the world and we want to help. 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