Silent epidemic that spread like wildfire among the hurried young men who powered the Celtic Tiger

THANK you for highlighting (September 1) a condition that I have worked tirelessly to try to alleviate — diabetes.

I have worked with diabetes patients for nine years, beginning my career as a nurse on a diabetes ward and now I work in a private diabetes clinic.

The ward was largely full of people suffering from complications of diabetes, many of which, to my dismay, were avoidable.

Time and time again patients would tell me they had no access to screenings, foot clinics and specialised services.

Many depended on their local GP, who was under-resourced and overworked, as their main source of treatment/information on diabetes.

I am sorry to say that in the nine years I have been involved with people with diabetes, not much has improved. But your special feature helps to get the message to people. Prevention through education and screening is the best way to begin to tackle what is a silent epidemic in this country. And it is crucial also to ensure a proper diet, exercise and the elimination of stress not just for people with diabetes but for everyone.

In my clinic I am amazed to see the increasing number of men in their 30s with high-powered jobs who have Type 2 diabetes.

This was primarily a condition in patients who were over 40, overweight and with many other risk factors. While this still is the case, it is frightening now to see younger men at the top of their careers with this condition. They are totally stressed, eating all the wrong foods and not exercising. While the Celtic Tiger may have given many of these men jobs and incomes they had longed for, it has also given them chronic health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. We need to get the message out there to people and support GPs like Tony O’Sullivan and the Diabetes Federation of Ireland who have the thankless task of diabetes prevention here.

While we do need to highlight these issues, it was also refreshing to read stories from the likes of Nora Lavin and Rachel Farrell, how they have not left diabetes control them, but rather the other way around.

Helena Farrell RGN

Shanakiel Hospital

Sundays Well

Cork