• Research amongst patients with Type 2 Diabetes on insulin reveals how emotional and psychological factors are negatively impacting their condition
• A quarter suffer from anxiety over getting hypos (low blood glucose levels) with more than 40% preferring to have high blood glucose levels instead of risking another hypo. This can lead to serious long term health risks
• A new campaign launches today called ‘Diabetes Highs & Lows: Better Balance for a Better Future’ which highlights how emotional and psychological factors can have an impact on effective T2 diabetes management
• The campaign includes the launch of a patient support website, DiabetesHighsAndLows.co.uk which is dedicated to helping patients with T2 diabetes better manage their blood glucose levels. The website is developed and funded by Sanofi.

A quarter of people with T2 diabetes feel anxious or fearful about ‘hypos’ (low blood glucose levels), with 42% preferring to have high blood glucose levels instead, despite the risk of life threatening conditions in the future.[i]

The findings also revealed that a significant proportion of patients with T2 diabetes believe that other people think they are to blame (15%), and some patients believe that other people think they are just greedy (14%) ¹ . Likewise, 25% of patients with T2 diabetes only tell close friends, family or their healthcare professional about their diabetes, and 58% feel self-conscious or avoid injecting in front of other people, negative emotions are stopping people managing their condition properly.^[i]

 Another Sanofi-funded study conducted in adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the UK, and  published in the journal Diabetic Medicine, showed even modest improvement in blood glucose control could help prevent almost a million serious medical complications such as eye disease, kidney disease, foot ulcer and amputations, and potentially blindness, which could  avoid billions in future NHS costs.[ii]

With the UK having the worst control of T2 diabetes blood glucose levels in Europe[iii], Sanofi, who conducted the report, is launching a new patient support website to help the 52% of T2 diabetes patients who find it hard to balance their blood glucose levels.^[i]

The Sanofi ‘Diabetes Highs and Lows: Better Balance for a Better future’ campaign aims to help people with Type 2 diabetes feel in control and positive about how they can balance their blood glucose levels. A new website, developed and funded by Sanofi has been launched, diabeteshighsandlows.co.uk, which includes key information on recognising and managing blood glucose highs and lows.

[i] Sanofi Data on File 2016. “Highs and lows: better balance for a better future” market research

[ii] Baxter et al, Estimating the impact of better management of glycaemic control in adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes on the

number of clinical complications and the associated financial benefit. Diabetic Medicine (2016). DOI: 10.1111/dme.13062

[iii] Khunti K et al. Study of Once Daily Levemir (SOLVETM) insights into the timing of insulin initiation in people with poorly

controlled Type 2 diabetes in routine clinical practice. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (2012)