My Diabetes My Way: June 2021 Update
Welcome to the My Diabetes My Way Newsletter for June 2021.
Diabetes and Blood Pressure
This month My Diabetes My Way is focusing on blood pressure. Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure your heart uses to push blood through your blood vessels and around your body. By maintaining your BP to target you are protecting your blood vessels.
You may not always be aware if your BP is elevated as symptoms may not be obvious, but it can be harmful to your health if left untreated. This is due to the increased pressure placed on your heart, eyes, kidneys and other organs.
For more information watch this video: https://player.vimeo.com/video/257466451
Things you can do to help improve or maintain a safe blood pressure target include changes to the following lifestyle factors:
- Stopping smoking
- Increasing exercise, if you can
- Reducing stress
- Maintaining a healthy balanced diet
- Limiting alcohol intake
- During the pandemic some people have started to check their blood pressure at home. If you are considering home monitoring always check with your health care team first to make sure you are doing this accurately.
By registering to access your records on My Diabetes My Way you can access a record of your BP measurements and always know your numbers. You can use the service to:
- Find out your latest BP reading
- Understand what the results means
- Set goals if BP needs improvement
- Record your own home BP results
You can also find further information to discuss with your healthcare team. If treatment is required, your doctor or nurse will be able to give you advice.
Diabetes Week 2021
This year, Diabetes Week will take place from 14-20th June. The theme this year is telling #DiabetesStories and Diabetes UK will be co-ordinating activities across the UK. To find out more and to get involved, visit the following link: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/diabetes-week
Free Online Course for Type 1 Diabetes
NHS England are hosting a Massive Open Online Course on ‘Understanding Type 1 diabetes’ on 17th and 18th June. The course is available to anyone, no matter where they live, and offers a supportive shared learning experience for anyone living with Type 1 diabetes and those that care for them. To book your place, please visit https://understandingtype1.mydiabetes.com
My Diabetes My Way Admin
Due to the current situation with Coronavirus, it is taking us longer to collect mail, create new enrolment packs and send out registration paperwork for you to access your diabetes records. We are currently processing enrolment packs in batches every two weeks, but we are now happy for you to email us back a photo or scanned copy of your signed form to avoid any further delays.
Help and Support
If you have not yet managed to gain access to your diabetes records on My Diabetes My Way, or would like an update on the status of your registration, please let us know. You can contact us regarding any problems or request further help and support by emailing: mydiabetes.myway@nhs.scot
Thank you for your continued support.