World Diabetes Day: Ed Gamble discusses being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13
Living with diabetes, no matter how old you are, can be difficult - but modern technologies have made diabetes care and management much more accessible and convenient over the years.
Diabetes is an increasingly common condition, with an estimated one in 10 adults worldwide, the equivalent of 537 million adults, living with the condition. In the UK, data by Diabetes UK shows that more than 4.3 million people live with diabetes.
On World Diabetes Day, Tuesday 14 November, comedian and Off Menu podcast host Ed Gamble speaks to Yahoo UK about his own experience with type 1 diabetes, which he was diagnosed with at age 13.
It was Gamble’s mother who noticed he was thirstier than normal and needing to go to the toilet more often. A nurse herself, she recognised the signs and took him to the doctor, where they discovered he had type 1 diabetes.
‘It didn’t feel real’
Even as a pre-teen, Gamble had some awareness that diabetes could affect young people, thanks to a storyline in the popular Australian TV series, Neighbours. In the show, a character named Danni Stark, played by Eliza Szonert, was diabetic and would inject herself with insulin.
But watching Danni’s story on Neighbours didn’t really prepare him for what "it meant to live with type 1 diabetes".
"I remember sitting down with my GP and my mum, who used to be in nursing, carefully explaining what this would mean, and how this would be something I’d have to deal with for the rest of my life," Gamble says. "But it didn’t feel real."
Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, typically appears in adolescence. Of the 35,000 children and young people under the age of 19 who have diabetes in the UK, 96% have type 1 diabetes, according to Diabetes UK.
It occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin, the hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or the body’s cells don’t react to insulin.
Watch: Diabetes: Thousands of new cases could be diagnosed from screenings in A&E, study suggests
Children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are looked after by a paediatric diabetes care team until they’re about 17 years old. The team helps parents and children manage the condition, such as injecting insulin, testing blood glucose levels, and diet.
But even with help from his mum and medical team, Gamble says his younger self had little understanding of just how big of an impact diabetes would have on nearly every aspect of his life.
"There is no good time to find out you have diabetes, but 13-year-old me found it so difficult to understand the impact it would have on my life that I just went with it," he recalls. "It took me a while to realise that in the end, it was down to me how I managed it."
‘I struggled with the idea it would be forever’
Gamble recalls his concerns and frustrations about living with the condition as a teenager. At the time, the technology for glucose monitoring wasn’t as advanced as it is today, which meant a lot of trial and error to control his blood sugar levels.
"When I was less experienced in living with it, [I] found it harder to ‘know my body’, so to speak. It can be really tough when your sugar levels won’t move in the right direction, even if you take steps to try and counteract them being too high or low," he says.
"Loads of things impact my sugar levels - eating, drinking, stress, exercise - but sometimes your glucose will be out of the right range despite your best efforts."
Gamble adds that he also "struggled with the idea that [his condition] would be forever". Diabetes is a life-long condition that must be managed constantly in order to control the body’s blood sugar levels.
However, he now uses a continuous glucose monitoring system from Dexcom, which provides him with real-time readings of his blood sugar levels. The readings are sent straight to his phone, which "makes it easier to take day by day", he says.
The Dexcom G7 real-time continuous glucose monitoring system includes a sensor that Gamble wears on his arm. It means he doesn’t have to prick his finger or go through scans to check his glucose levels, unless his symptoms or expectations don’t match the readings.
"The app alerts me if my glucose is too high or low, day and night, which means I can manage my diabetes even when I’m asleep," Gamble says.
There are more technological advances for people living with diabetes that the Taskmaster star is looking forward to. "It’s really amazing that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has just announced its new guidance on hybrid closed loop systems, which act like ‘artificial pancreases’.
"I’m so grateful to be able to access the technology that I use day-to-day, and it makes me happy knowing more people will have greater choice over how they manage diabetes soon."
‘Don’t try injecting insulin through your clothes’
Gamble has some sage words of advice for his 13-year-old self - and for any young person living with diabetes.
"I would tell [my younger self] to remember that there will be good days as well as bad days, and if you take some time to understand the condition a bit more and learn what helps you, it will get easier," he says.
"I know pizzas and curries affect my sugar levels but I don’t need to rule anything out, just take steps to manage diabetes as needed." Any other words of advice? "Don’t inject [insulin] through your clothes."
Read more about diabetes:
Losing sleep 'puts women at greater risk of diabetes' (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
Health benefits of a sugar-free diet as some coffee chain sweet treats contain 39 teaspoons (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
More than 150,000 people with type 1 diabetes to be offered artificial pancreas (Evening Standard, 2-min read)
