Diabetes Canada
Diabetes Canada
Diabetes Canada is committed to ending the diabetes epidemic by preventing type 2 diabetes, delivering better care for people with diabetes, and funding research to find a cure. Diabetes Canada also actively advocates on behalf of people with diabetes to end the discrimination, stigma, and unfair treatment many people with diabetes face, as well as lobbying government for help to address Canada’s diabetes epidemic and working with healthcare professionals to implement best practices to care for people with diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease where your body either cannot produce insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it produces to regulate the amount of glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream. Over time, too much glucose in the bloodstream can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
There are three major types of diabetes: type 1 (also known as insulin-dependent diabetes), type 2, and gestational diabetes. 90% of Canadians with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which most commonly develops in adulthood. Gestational diabetes can develop during pregnancy and is usually temporary.
One in three Canadians, including nearly 4 million Ontarians, are living with diabetes or prediabetes, and that figure grows with another diagnosis every three minutes. People with diabetes account for 30% of strokes, 40% of heart attacks, 50% of dialysis starts for kidney failure, and 70% of amputations in Canada. More than $50 million a day is spent on healthcare to treat diabetes and related complications across Canada.
It never leaves your mind. No matter what you’re doing.
Click to see video transcript
Dr Jan Hux:
Diabetes Canada seeks to address the diabetes epidemic in this country. Currently, eleven million Canadians are living with either diabetes or pre-diabetes. That’s nearly one in three.
The number of Canadians with diagnosed diabetes has doubled in the last twelve years, and that growth continues with another diagnosis every three minutes.
Oria J:
I was ten years old when I found out that I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I felt guilty, because of how I saw it impacted my parents, I saw how stressed and anxious they were, and I also saw them really cry for the very first time.
Dr Jan Hux:
For someone with Type 1 diabetes, who has just taken their insulin, if their boss arrives I their office and wants them to do a quick report, they can’t do it, they must eat. So it’s that loss of flexibility, it’s the day-by-day vigilance that people live with, to try and ensure that their blood sugar levels are always in a healthy range.
Oria J:
I think the biggest challenge of Type 1 diabetes is that it never leaves your mind. No matter what you’re doing, where you’re going, it’s always there at the back of your head, saying, take care of me, give me attention.
Dr Jan Hux:
This illness carries a heavy burden of chronic complications. We know that people with diabetes account for 30% of strokes, 40% of heart attacks, 50% of dialysis starts for kidney failure, and 70% of amputations.
Oria J:
I know that if I do forget to manage my diabetes, there are really grave consequences, and that makes me stress and also makes me scared.
Dr Jan Hux:
our mission is to end the diabetes epidemic, and we do that through efforts to prevent Type 2 diabetes, to deliver better care so that people experience less burden and complications of the disease, and ultimately through research to find a cure.
Oria J:
It’s really important for organisations like these to exist. With chronic disease, there’s a lot of isolation felt. Diabetes Canada connects people and it takes away isolation while fostering community.
Dr Jan Hux:
Everything we do relies on donor dollars. FHC has helped us deliver on our mission. We’re so grateful for all of the many individuals represented in the donation and in the collective that makes that possible.
Oria J:
To the donors that have helped this charity, I’d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I personally have been affected by donations that have been given to Diabetes Canada, and at D-camps, I was provided with a loving community and role models when I felt isolated and small.
Dr Jan Hux:
It’s that stream of revenue that allows us to make the investments that we’re making in ending the diabetes epidemic.
Oria J:
To others that are going through this, and perhaps struggling with a diabetes diagnosis, don’t let the stigmas and stereotypes of diabetes hold you back. Find strength in unity, find a community that you connect with and find others that you can confide in.
Across Ontario, Diabetes Canada programs help people with diabetes understand, manage, and fight complications from the disease. For example, last year alone, Diabetes Canada specialists helped more than 23,000 Canadians who called their information helpline looking for information or support dealing with diabetes. More than 20,000 children with diabetes have attended D-Camps, enjoying an authentic camp experience that combines fun activities, friendship, and education on how to manage their diabetes with help from on-site medical professionals.
“It’s really important for organizations like [Diabetes Canada] to exist,” Oria says. “To the donors that have helped this charity, I’d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I personally have been affected by donations that have been given to Diabetes Canada, and at D-camps, I was provided with a loving community and role models when I felt isolated and small.”
Diabetes Canada was one of the first charities to join us when Federated Health Charities was founded in 1983. For the last 40 years, Diabetes Canada and Federated Health Charities have worked together to help those affected by diabetes live healthy lives and prevent the onset of diabetes.
You can learn about Diabetes Canada at Diabetes Canada.
Donate to Federated Health Charities today for healthier communities and a world free of the effects of diabetes.
Click on the button below to make a donation to Diabetes Canada through Federated Health Charities
For general questions:
647-278-9861
federated.health.charities
@ontario.ca
Address
315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8
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For general questions:
647-278-9861
federated.health.charities@ontario.ca
Address
315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8
Follow us
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