Hansard

I, too, congratulate Clare Adamson on securing the debate, which I have really enjoyed, so far. I also want to declare an interest: I am, with David Stewart, a co-convener of the Scottish Parliament cross-party group on diabetes. Understanding how serious type 1 diabetes is means knowing that in Scotland more than 30,000 people have the condition—26,517 adults and 3,812 children.

Type 1 diabetes is not caused by lifestyle and there is currently no way to prevent the condition. The long-term implications of the disease are well documented and include many complications, including increased risk of dying from heart disease and stroke—both of which are clinical priorities in Scotland. Furthermore, microvascular complications can affect the eyes, the heart, the kidneys, the extremities and even the gastrointestinal system. Diabetes complications have a major economic impact on the NHS. About £1 billion a year—10 per cent of the NHS budget—is spent on diabetes and its complications.

People might not be aware of the short-term complications and the day-to-day issues around living with type 1 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes must continuously monitor glucose levels day and even night to ensure that their blood glucose levels are correct. Blood glucose levels that are too low can lead to hypoglycaemia and even to seizure and loss of consciousness. Levels that are too high can send patients into hyperglycaemia, which can be life-threatening. Therefore, living with type 1 diabetes can, unsurprisingly, disrupt one’s life on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.

It is incredibly important to me to use the platform that is available to me as co-convener of the cross-party group to explore what can be done to help people who live with diabetes. I am particularly passionate about helping families with diabetic children to manage the disease because, during my time as a nurse, I saw how difficult that can be and heard parents’ stories of their daily lives and the behaviours that they have to adapt to. Things can be especially difficult for the parents of children who do not know the symptoms of hypoglycaemia and who therefore have to be monitored closely throughout the night. I would like to emphasise that issue. Some parents wake their kid three times during the night to do a finger stick for the blood glucose sample. Being unaware of low blood sugar can have difficulties, as has been mentioned. Waking children to check blood glucose levels is exhausting for all involved. A child who is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five faces up to 19,000 injections and 50,000 finger sticks by the time they are 18—five or more finger sticks a day.

The JDRF is an excellent charity that is working to give a voice to those children and their families and to drive forward research until we find a cure. The research is crucial. I remember in 1978 testing my urine for the presence of sugar. We have come a long way. The charity has funded some of the world-leading research that is happening in Scotland right now, with researchers in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow receiving funding in the region of £3.9 million.

A big step that we can take—and are taking—to make the lives of people with type 1 diabetes easier involves development and funding of new and innovative methods of meeting the challenge of continually monitoring blood glucose levels. For example, we now have continuous glucose monitoring with wee gizmos, such as the one that I am holding up, that enable flash monitoring, which allows greater scrutiny of blood glucose levels. Such improvements allow young people to lead independent lives and to do things that their peers take for granted—for example, travelling to university on public transport, or obtaining a driver’s licence or even a job.

Last year, a new plan to improve the management of type 1 diabetes was backed by £10 million of investment by the Scottish Government.

I again thank Clare Adamson for the debate. I am confident that Scotland can continue to lead the way in development and implementation of technology to help people with type 1 diabetes, and to find a cure.