Mastering Diabetes Management This Summer

And now moving on to the summer months, although sometimes it doesn't feel like summer, what particular challenges does this time of the year, the summer months, bring for managing diabetes? Well, patients are now thinking about travelling abroad, they are also much more relaxed generally, hopefully, so there could be slipping in their healthy eating. The other thing is that when patients go raw, they sometimes go to countries where the diet changes can affect their diabetes. So some countries, they eat far more carbohydrates or far more sugary food, and everyone on holiday may feel they can relax their alcohol consumption, which they normally keep a tight rein on. And it's being able to actually say to patients that these could be challenges ahead of them, and just helping them to be aware of how they can either have restraint or have healthier options, or if they are going to relax their own restrictions then, when they come back to being able to once again restart with their healthy goals. And you previously referred to sleep earlier. With the summer months, we have the longer days and the shorter nights. Have you seen or can you advise any effective coping strategies for improving sleep, especially in the summer? Well we do encourage again patients to look at their bedrooms, to try and minimise light in the bedrooms, so trying to have dark window blinds and curtains, trying to turn off the blue lights of mobile phones and computers and so on in the bedroom and trying to get to bed at the same time if that's possible as they do the rest of the year or at least trying to get the same number of hours of sleep that they normally do because we know that there is an importance in having good sleep. And furthermore, what changes in food and activity levels do your patients find challenging with their diabetes? I know you were mentioning earlier travel abroad being an issue as well, including also alcohol intake. Can you expand on that a bit more? I think that everything is so much more available in the summer outdoors and everywhere. We often see ice cream for example and you know when you're feeling harsh and you're walking around with your friends and family it's very tempting.