In honour of World Health Day on April 7, Dr. Jan Hux, chief science officer at the Canadian Diabetes Association, hosted a live Twitter chat on April 6.
Dr. Hux has more than 20 years of experience working on various diabetes research teams, first with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, then the association. The live chat centered around her answering questions as well as providing information to Canadians to help them live well using the hashtag #DiabetesWHD.
“At the institute, I developed and lead the diabetes health services research program. In 2004, I co-chaired the Ontario Diabetes Task Force and have contributed to both the National Diabetes Surveillance System and the Alberta Diabetes Surveillance System. I joined the association to continue making an impact for people living with diabetes or prediabetes,” Dr. Hux explained.
This is the first year World Health Day has chosen to focus on spreading awareness about type 1 and type 2 diabetes. According to the association, diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body either cannot produce insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it.
“You cannot prevent type 1 diabetes as it’s an autoimmune disease. However, the Canadian Diabetes Association believes there are things we can to do to reduce type 2 diabetes rates, including prevention programs that focus on healthy eating, physical activity and stress reduction, in addition to healthy public policies that make healthy choices the easy choice,” Dr. Hux said.
In her experience, many myths are commonly associated with diabetes. Some of these myths include: it’s the person’s fault if they are diagnosed with the disease, having diabetes means the end of a normal life, and people with diabetes have to adhere to crazy and restrictive diets.
Dr. Hux said it is especially important to spread awareness about the disease here in Canada.
“We have an aging population, higher-than-average rates of overweight and obesity and a high number of people who are genetically pre-disposed because of their ethnicity,” Dr. Hux said. “With more than 11 million Canadians living with diabetes or prediabetes it is an important issue. Canada’s rates are high when looking at comparable countries. There is no easy explanation. There are many factors that place a person at risk for type 2 diabetes.”
For more information about diabetes, visit www.diabetes.ca
