I SAW comedian Joe Pasquale on Daybreak with Lorraine talking about his daughter’s diabetes condition. The interview was part of Diabetes Awareness Week, aimed at helping people understand the scale of the diabetes problem and also to raise money for research.
Joe’s daughter has type 1 diabetes and is insulin-dependent. Until recently she needed four injections a day, which obviously has a dramatic effect on any teenager’s lifestyle.
I’m very excited that the Slimpod has successfully undergone clinical trials at City University, London, producing scientific evidence of the long-term lifestyle changes it brings about.
We want to show the NHS how our technique could help tackle the obesity crisis, enable people with type 2 diabetes to lose weight without dieting and potentially save the taxpayer millions.
The Slimpod trials are providing invaluable insights into both prevention and treatment of the fastest-growing problem the NHS faces.
Over the past few years we have seen some remarkable results from Slimpod users. Barbara Greenwood , 48, has lost 84lbs in 15 months, going from a size 28 to a size 16.
Her BMI has gone from 46 to 32 and recently her nurse took her off her main type 2 diabetes medication for the first time since she was diagnosed 13 years ago.
“I’m so glad I found out about Slimpods because 35 years of trying every diet under the sun didn’t make me lose weight,” says Barbara, from Mansfield, Notts. “Now I have a new lease of life.
“It took me 20 years to realise that dieting wouldn’t solve my underlying problem and another 17 years to find something that could.
“It’s as though by using the Slimpod I’ve found the volume control on my appetite and turned it way down!”
Barbara’s Slimpod has certainly had a positive effect on her health: “I’ve been taken off my medication for diabetes now, my blood pressure has dropped to normal and my long-term blood sugars (HbA1C) have gone from a reading of 56 a year ago to 38 today, which my GP says is excellent control,” she says.
Barbara has also seen a drop in her blood pressure from 160/95 to 100/60 and her cholesterol reading is down from 5.2 to 5.0.
Traffic warden Darin McCloud was desperate. He had put on so much weight he had become depressed and didn’t know where to turn. He even ate more junk food to try to become fat enough so he could get a gastric band on the NHS.
But now he has lost almost 70lbs in weight and taken 14 inches off his waistline with a Slimpod – and he ran in the London Marathon last year.
Darin’s blood sugar level, monitored by his diabetes specialist at Portsmouth hospital, has gone down so much his insulin dose has been reduced by 90%, his body mass index (BMI) has dropped a category, his depression has lifted and he is now jogging and power walking along the seafront at Southsea.
Darin, from Portsmouth, now cycles and runs every day. He says: “The new me is happy being positive and proactive rather than the old me lounging around feeling sorry for myself and doing nothing about it. Plus my BMI has come down by about 17 points from my heaviest.”
DIABETES FACTS
* More than three million people in the UK suffer from diabetes and the cost to the NHS is over £1.5million an hour or 10 per cent of its budget for England and Wales.
* In total the NHS spends about £14 billion a year on treating diabetes and its complications.
* Diabetes is now the single biggest cause of amputation, strokes, blindness and kidney failure.
Has a Slimpod helped you to manage type 2 diabetes? I’d love to hear from you because your experiences can help with our research and also give hope to millions of others.
