My Diabetes My Way: June 2025 update
Welcome to the My Diabetes My Way Newsletter for June 2025.
Men’s Health Week
There are a few health awareness days and weeks this month, the first of which was Men’s Health Week (https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/mhw) which ran from 9th-15th June. This week encouraged men to spend some time looking after their health and attend health screening. Our diabetes population figures show that 55.5% of people with Type 1 diabetes and 56.2% of people with Type 2 are male, meaning that the majority of people living with diabetes in Scotland are male.
Healthcare professionals need to be aware and look at strategies to increase the number of men who attend their annual checks, whether in primary or secondary care. It is extremely important for everyone to attend all diabetes appointments to minimise the risk of developing diabetes-related complications.
Learning Disabilities Week
The 16th-22nd June is Learning Disabilities Week:
https://www.mencap.org.uk/easyread/learning-disability-week-2025
Having a learning difficulty can make dealing with diabetes more challenging, both for the person and any carers. Monitoring and acting on blood sugar readings can be tricky and low and high readings may be mishandled, increasing the risk for the patient. Healthcare professionals need to aware of the level of understanding from the individual and their carer and adapt education to reflect this. There is lots of information on dealing with diabetes and learning disability at the following link: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/for-professionals/improving-care/good-practice/for-people-with-learning-disability
Windrush Day
June 22nd is UK Windrush Day and this reminds us that your ethnicity affects your diabetes risk and risk of complications. People with an Afro-Caribbean, or a South-East Asian heritage often develop Type 2 diabetes at a much lower body mass index (BMI) and a younger age than White Caucasians, so need to be extra vigilant if they are experiencing any signs of diabetes:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/diabetes-ethnicity
Sometimes, engaging these communities with healthcare requires diabetes education to be presented in several languages. We have information about diabetes in several different languages on our website so please use the links below to find content to suit you:
https://mydiabetesmyway.scot.nhs.uk/know-more/my-languages/
One Million Step Challenge
July sees the start of Diabetes UK Million Step Challenge. This ran very successfully last year and is being repeated again. It’s a great opportunity to get out and increase exercise whilst raising funds for future diabetes research. Increasing exercise lowers blood sugars, lowers blood pressure and improves feelings of wellbeing. More details are available at the link below:
https://step.diabetes.org.uk/
If you have a Fitbit activity tracker and intend to take part in the challenge, you can link your Fitbit account to your My Diabetes My Way account. This allows you to add your Fitbit data to My Diabetes My Way and monitor your progress in the challenge. To get started, log in to My Diabetes My Way and select “My Services”. You can then link your Fitbit account and connect your Fitbit records. When you do this, you will see a new section named “My Activity” where you can monitor your steps, heart rate and many other Fitbit measurements.
Even if you don't own a Fitbit device, you can still track your activity for free by downloading the Fitbit app on your smartphone and using Fitbit’s MobileTrack function. MobileTrack lets you use the Fitbit app without a Fitbit device by using your phone's sensors to track basic activity data including steps, distance, and calories burned. More information on MobileTrack can be found here: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1875
Free Type 2 Diabetes Online Course
This month’s online course is “Understanding Type 2 diabetes” and is available on 25th and 26th June with Live Q&A sessions on both evenings. Registration is available at https://understandingtype2.mydiabetes.com/
This course is ideal if you are newly diagnosed or want to learn more about your treatment.
Facebook, X and Bluesky
Please remember, you can keep up-to-date with the latest news and useful information on the My Diabetes My Way Facebook, X and Bluesky pages.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mydiabetesmyway
X (formerly Twitter): https://www.twitter.com/mydiabetesmyway
Bluesky: @mydiabetesmyway.bsky.social
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.