Trish was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1975, at the age of 17. In 1990, during a routine check-up with her doctor, he noticed some changes in her eyes and sent her to an eye specialist.

“I hadn’t noticed anything at all,” she said. “There were no symptoms. But the ophthalmologist said I had diabetic retinopathy.”

In 2008, Gayle, who has type 1 diabetes, was told by an eye specialist that she had macular degeneration, an age-related, degenerative eye disease. She had laser surgery on both eyes.

The following year she was driving an elderly friend into town. “I suddenly noticed the white line on the road wasn’t straight; it was bendy. That’s when I got scared,” Gayle said. “I pulled over and said to my friend, ‘Will you drive?’ When we got into town I walked straight into my doctor’s office, nervous as a kitten.”

Diabetes Australia continues to lead the way when it comes to raising awareness of the importance of emotional health for people with diabetes with Diabetes UK recently launching a new resource for healthcare professionals.

Diabetes Australia today issued a wakeup call about the diabetes epidemic which is overwhelming Australia’s hospitals after a new study found that people with diabetes accounted for around one-third of all hospitalisations.

Heart disease is one of the most common and lethal complication associated with type 2 diabetes which is why research into preventing its impact is so important.

The Diabetes Australia Research Trust is supporting research at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute where researchers believe they may have identified a potential new therapy.

Insulin resistance is the process where the body no longer responds to insulin in the way it should. It often precedes a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Dr Clinton Bruce from Deakin University says our understanding of the mechanisms that cause insulin resistance must be improved.