An Edinburgh Napier product design student has created a bodysuit that aims to make it easier for women affected by type 1 diabetes to wear an insulin pump with any type of clothing.
Final year student Katarzyna Pohorecka has developed ‘Mude’ – a range of six nude-coloured bodysuits that contain a specially designed pouch that discreetly holds an insulin pump.
The work – which is being exhibited this week as part of the University’s online Degree Show – has been created after a gap in the market was identified for a product that allowed female insulin pump users to wear their pump under their clothes.
The inclusive range – which has been completely designed and sewn by Kat as part of her fourth year studies at Edinburgh Napier – comes in six different colours and in sizes XS to XXL.
Kat was inspired to create the range of bodysuits – which can also be worn as an individual item of clothing rather than as underwear – after her research showed that women regularly have issues wearing certain types of clothing, especially lighter clothes and dresses, while using an insulin pump.
Kat said: “My best friend has type 1 diabetes and she’s often remarked to me that she can’t wear certain items of clothing because they are just not compatible with her insulin pump.
“I started researching this area and I found that despite there being some accessories such as belts and bumbags to help with wearing an insulin pump, there was nothing specifically made with comfort and discreetness in mind.
“Mude – which takes its names from the word miód which is Polish for honey and nude which reflects the colours I have used – has been designed with these two aspects in mind. I wanted to create something that allowed women to wear any item of clothing along with their insulin pump.
“I’ve always been a believer that clothing – and the fashion industry as a whole – should be doing more to make clothing inclusive for all. I have designed the range in six colours and in a variety of sizes as I aim to make it as accessible for as many people as possible.
“Now that my time at Edinburgh Napier has come to an end, I’m really keen to continue pursuing my idea and would love to bring Mude to market, putting it on sale for those affected by type 1 diabetes who feel they could benefit from something like this.
“Design for a social impact has always been incredibly important to me and I’m hopeful of meeting this goal throughout the remainder of the year.”
The Edinburgh Napier Degree Show runs from 2 June. More information and to view this year’s work, visit here.
A pioneering, inter-agency partnership, led by NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, NHS Borders and the six local authorities in the region, is working together to reduce type 2 diabetes across the East of Scotland.
Type 2 diabetes has been on the rise across the country for the past decade, having a significant impact on the lives of individuals and health of Scotland’s population as a whole.
Over 62,000 people are living with type 2 diabetes in the East of Scotland – around 5% of the total population – and there are over 3,700 new cases in the region each year.
Recognising that diet and excess weight is driven by a range of environmental, societal and individual factors, regional health and social care providers have joined forces with stakeholders from the public, third and private sectors to advance sustainable change.
Growing evidence of the link between obesity and an increased risk of complications from COVID-19 has reinforced the importance of this shared vision, compounded by the measures recently revealed as part of the UK government’s new obesity strategy.
With national investment of £1.46 million in the East of Scotland programme this year, regional director Nicky Waters said: “Our programme is a priority initiative – reflecting the need for urgent action to reduce the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Scotland and support people to lead healthy lifestyles.
“By adopting a Whole Systems Approach and bringing a wide range of partners together, our programme is centred on tackling structural, systemic root causes – such as poverty, inequality and childhood trauma – and the part that we all need to play in addressing them.”
Four core intervention programmes – Get Moving with Counterweight, Type 2 Diabetes Remission through Counterweight Plus, Gestational Diabetes education and Let’s Prevent Diabetes – are being rolled out across the region, with partners taking advantage of technology to support people throughout the pandemic.
Over 1900 adults have been referred to Get Moving with Counterweight and the remission programme since October 2019, with 60 patients currently taking part in Counterweight Plus.
Counterweight Plus, a free two-year programme being delivered by specialist NHS dietitians, is based on ground-breaking evidence from the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT).
A combination of intensive, long-term support and Total Diet Replacement (TDR) of nutritional shakes and soups, is key to the intervention’s success.
Jenny*, a patient going through Counterweight Plus in Lothian, has overcome various hurdles to continue on the programme at home throughout the pandemic – receiving virtual support whilst juggling family and working life under lockdown.
Despite the challenges, Jenny’s blood glucose results, weight loss and largely positive experience to date, all indicate that she’s heading in the right direction. She said: “The programme hasn’t been easy but the consistent emotional support and awareness of the long-term health benefits has really spurred me on. I’ve lost twenty kilos since I was first diagnosed and feel great because of it.”
Jonathan Hayes, the dietitian supporting Jenny, reflected: “It’s brilliant to see that, despite this unprecedented situation, there are people out there like Jenny who have turned things around for the positive. And who stand a very good chance of coming out of the pandemic, having put their type 2 diabetes into remission. That is an incredible outcome.”
Regional health and social care providers are further committed to improving the working environment for their 84,000 employees and local areas are rolling out community based pilot projects to test a Whole Systems Approach (WSA) to diet and healthy weight.
Laurie Eyles, one of the newly appointed professional advisers for diet and healthy weight at the Scottish Government, who prior to this had been supporting partners as the programme’s clinical lead, said: “From delivering targeted interventions, to addressing the widespread issue of weight stigma and tackling the health inequalities which exist across the region – partners are committed to making lasting improvements to the environment in which we live.
“It is this that will allow us to build an East of Scotland where we eat well, have a healthy weight and are physically active – reducing our risk of developing type 2 diabetes for the long-term.”
For weight management and type 2 diabetes support during this time, please visit:
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK
Cut down on sugar in your drinks
TODAY 14th November is World Diabetes Day. Consuming too much sugar in your diet can lead to weight-gain as well as increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Over a quarter of the added sugar in our diets is believed to come from the drinks we consume. The focus of this week’s tip is on reducing the amount of sugar in your drinks.
Choose sugar-free or reduced-sugar drinks
When you feel thirsty, water is always the best option. Try swapping your sugary soft drink for a glass of water or a sugar-free or reduced-sugar drink. If you are not keen on the taste of water, you could try adding a slice of lemon and/or some mint leaves.
Save sugary drinks for an occasional treat
If you don’t want to stop drinking your favourite sugary drink permanently, try limiting the amount you drink by consuming it less frequently and in smaller quantities. Unsweetened fruit juices and smoothies also contain sugar, so try to limit your intake to no more than 150ml a day.
Avoid adding sugar, syrups and honey to hot drinks
If you usually add sugar, syrups or honey to hot drinks, why not gradually reduce the amount you add, until you can cut it out altogether. Alternatively, you could use an artificial sweetener, however this will not help you to adjust your taste preference for sweet drinks.
Cut down on sugar from alcoholic drinks
Alcoholic drinks can be high in sugar. A pint of cider contains around five teaspoons of sugar. Try to reduce your sugar intake by consuming alcoholic drinks less frequently, in smaller measures and by combining alcoholic drinks with sugar-free or reduced-sugar mixers, such as sugar-free tonic water.
Education, flexibility, training and risk assessment are some ways that employers up and down the country can provide support to diabetic employees.
Health and safety experts at CE Safety have revealed actionable steps for employers to ensure that they have the correct workplace procedures to deal with a diabetic emergency.
It is World Diabetes Day on November 14th, prompting CE Safety to offer guidance about first aid and diabetes in the workplace. With 4.8 million people in the UK living with diabetes, employers should be clued up and support staff who have the disease.
This is especially important in the time of Covid-19, as research has revealed that people with diabetes are at greater risk of dying from the virus. People with diabetes should be taking steps to look after themselves to avoid complications, such as maintaining healthy blood sugar targets and staying fit and healthy.
It is a basic minimum standard to ensure workplaces are risk assessed and suitable for diabetics.
A spokesperson for CE Safety says: “Diabetes is a lifelong serious condition and involves having to control the blood glucose levels in the body to stop it getting too high, which can be dangerous. Among the different types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2 are the most common.
“Huge efforts to raise awareness about the chronic condition are being made around the globe, and not without reason. The statistics on people who already have the disease are stark enough, however, experts also believe there are more than 13 million people in the UK who are at risk or already have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.
“The team at CE Safety deliver health and safety training in the workplace and feel passionate about ensuring every place of work has the correct procedures and policies to look after their staff.”
Here are practical steps for business owners to support employees with diabetes:
Open up the conversation
Allowing the conversation to open up, and having an honest chat around diabetes can help in a variety of ways. It can improve the mental health and wellbeing of the employee; remove any discrimination; employers can gain an understanding of how staff are coping, and provide a forum to outline initiatives and measures which everyone gains from.
Educate yourself on the disease
There are alarming numbers of people out there who don’t even understand the disease they’re living with, so it’s unlikely that employers without diabetes will fully understand it. There are many resources out there so a quick read will give you a lot of insight. For example, did you know that there’s a link between diabetes and depression?
Be flexible
Understanding what your staff with diabetes need, means you can then put measures in place to help them. Be accommodating for attending healthcare appointments for starters, but also support them around working hours, any modified equipment they need or simply show patience for when the disease becomes debilitating. It’s not easy to balance work with managing a disease.
Provide privacy
Staff with diabetes may need to take injections of insulin or check blood sugar levels throughout the working day. Give them a private and clean space to do this, which will provide peace of mind and inclusivity, and even reduce stress.
Revisit working practices
Do your terms allow for assessing a worker on an individual basis? For example, some employees may benefit from flexible working patterns or a higher level of sick leave. Diabetes can cause short and long term complications, so factor this into any relevant policies.
Train your staff in first aid
Your workforce should know what to do in an emergency situation, but do they know what to do in a diabetic emergency? Pass on the information you have gathered.
Do a diagnostic diabetes risk assessment
Get the overall picture of your workforce. Understand the full health picture of your staff, then you can take steps towards pinning down your approach, ensuring the workplace is prepared, safe and supportive to those who need it.
Look at your company culture
As well as supporting people who already have diabetes, there are many improvements employers can make to do their bit in eradicating the disease. We know there is plenty that can be done to avoid getting type 2 diabetes. Promote healthier choices in available food and drink, encourage work-life balance and exercise, and have policies around mental wellbeing.
Stop sitting down
A study in the journal Diabetologia discovered that people who sit still for long periods of time double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even if they exercise too.
The NHS says many adults in the UK sit for about nine hours a day, and that living a sedentary lifestyle is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer and early death.
Because many people spend hours sitting at a desk while at work, employers should be finding ways to reverse this problem. For example, encourage people to take the stairs, set reminders to stand, create standing workstations, go for a walk while speaking on the phone or regular coffee breaks.
For further information on diabetes and first aid, please see –
NHS Lothian’s diabetes research teams based at the Western General Hospital (WGH) and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) have launched a number of exciting new trials to help us understand what might cause type 1 diabetes and how to prevent it.
These new studies include INNODIA, a Europe wide study recruiting people with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes and unaffected family members. As diabetes affects 1 in 18 people in Scotland, with around 5,000 people with type 1 and 37,000 with type 2 diabetes in the NHS Lothian region, research to improve patient care and develop new treatments is vitally important.
Key to the success of the research are the volunteers who take part in studies. An easy way for people to participate is to join the NHS Research Scotland Diabetes research register.
Alison Sudworth, Diabetes Specialist Research Nurse in the RIE, said: “Getting more people involved in diabetes research will help make inroads into understanding the disease and create new treatments. For instance, one part of our GoDarts study is looking at genetics.”
Diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys and the WGH team have two trials that aim to improve the health of patients with complications.
Lesley Steven, Specialist Research Nurse at WGH said: “Recruitment in clinical trials is often challenging, particularly in diabetes renal studies. Renal patients often have limited treatment options, so trials in this area are vital to allow access to new drugs that would otherwise not be available to them.”
For more information contact: WGH 0131 537 3327 or RIE 0131 242 1456.
Any diabetes research project can make use of the NHS Research Scotland Diabetes research register, contact administrator-sdrn@dundee.ac.uk or phone 01382 383595 for more information.
Kay Malloch, Diabetes Specialist Nurse, recently presented 91 year-old Evelyn Emslie, who has diabetes, with the John MacLeod Medal. This was awarded by Diabetes UK in recognition of the courage and perseverance required to live with diabetes for 70 years.Continue reading Courage and perseverance: living with diabetes
A PROGRESSIVE Lothians courier firm is helping to raise awareness of one of the country’s lesser known chronic conditions. Bathgate-based Eagle Couriers has teamed up with Fringe act Katie & Pip to help spread the word about type 1 diabetes and the effect it can have on the lives of young people in the UK.Continue reading Scottish Courier delivers story of life-saving dog
