Approximately 425 million people worldwide and one in 15 people in the UK are estimated to have diabetes. In aid of this astonishing number our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) marked World Diabetes day through a social media campaign highlighting the fantastic work we are doing to lower this huge number.

There is still no cure for diabetes, even though it isn’t a new disease and can be dated back to at least 3,500 years ago as it was described on Egyptian manuscripts. You can find out more about the history of diabetes and what diabetes actually is by watching this two minute video.

This year’s theme ‘The Nurse and Diabetes’ aims to raise awareness around the crucial role that nurses play in supporting people living with diabetes. Presently, there are 6 million more diabetes nurses needed worldwide. FBMH is currently ranked 3rd in the UK for Nursing (QS World University Rankings 2020) and students can study three different types of UG nursing; adult, children’s and mental health. Watch this video to find out more about adult nursing

In collaboration with Diabetes UK, researcher Professor Simon Luckman is researching hypo unawareness, a condition where your brain can’t sense that your blood glucose levels are going low so you don’t know that about to have a hypo. His team have found the specific cells responsible for sensing low blood glucose levels in an area of the brain called the hypothalamus.

We are also raising awareness of diabetes through visual arts, science fairs and other activities through the Seven Thousand Feet project which is an installation of seven thousand socks illustrating the distressing number of people who lose body parts to diabetes each year. The project brings together doctors and scientists from the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.

You can also help support diabetes research by taking part in ‘Help BEAT Diabetes’ which is part of Research Future, an NHS-supported project to encourage people living in and around Greater Manchester to take part in health research.

Find out more about diabetes research at the University and follow our social media campaign.