SIR,
People in Abergavenny can check if they are at risk of developing diabetes as the Diabetes UK Measure Up Roadshow arrives in town in September.
The Measure Up Roadshow will be at The Abergavenny Food Festival between 9am and 5pm on September 19th and 20th.
The roadshow, which is travelling across Wales, encourages people to measure their waistline to see if they are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Having a larger waist means you are up to 12 times more likely to get the condition.
At risk waist measurements are 37 inches or more for men, or 35 for South Asian men, and 31.5 inches or more for women. Diabetes UK staff will also be offering free Type 2 diabetes risk assessment tests and giving advice about other risk factors for developing the condition. These include being aged over 40, being overweight, being of black or South Asian origin and having a close family history of the condition.
More than 3,700 people have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Monmouthshire and another 750 people may have the condition but not yet know it.
If untreated, diabetes can lead to devastating complications such as heart disease, stroke, amputation, blindness and kidney disease. Type 2 diabetes can be undetected for 10 years or more, meaning half of people already have complications by the time they are diagnosed.
Volunteers are needed to give out information at the Abergavenny roadshow.
To volunteer, for further information on diabetes, or to become a member of Diabetes UK, call 029 2066 8276 or email [email protected]">[email protected].
Visit http://www.diabetes.org.uk/MeasureUp">www.diabetes.org.uk/MeasureUp to find out if you are at risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes UK would like to thank the HBOS Foundation for its support of the Measure Up Roadshow.
Kerry Lynne Pyke
(Diabetes UK