News & Events

Oxford, UK – June 2009 -- BD Medical - Diabetes Care, a unit of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), announced today the full UK availability of its new patient support literature in versions designed specifically for different age groups.  The guides clearly and simply describe best practice for blood sampling and self-injection of insulin using language and imagery appropriate for each age group: children; teenagers; adults and older patients.  They also provide the essential information and support patients need in the early stages of living with diabetes.  BD Medical - Diabetes Care is making the literature available through diabetes specialist nurses, as well as direct from the company.  Practices and hospitals wishing to obtain stocks should contact the following email address: bddiabetes@europe.bd.com.

Injection technique is important in ensuring better health outcomes for people living with diabetes.  Poor technique can cause immediate problems, such as hypoglycaemia (a sudden drop in blood sugar because of accelerated insulin absorption) and, longer-term, lipohypertrophy (accumulation of fat under the skin caused by injecting too frequently in the same area - lipohypertrophy may cause variability in the absorption of insulin). Studies have shown that intensive (more injections of insulin per day) and more precise insulin doses help patients to avoid diabetes-related complications such as heart disease and stroke, kidney failure and foot problems .

Improving patients’ self-administration technique of insulin and teaching them how to match meal planning and exercise to their insulin dose, through education early in the disease process, not only helps empower the patient to self-manage their condition and improve health outcomes, it also contributes to containing and managing the cost of diabetes care.  Every year, diabetes treatment and complications costs the National Health Service approximately £1 million per hour, and a figure that is increasing rapidly . As many as 2.75 million people in the UK now have diabetes, and this total is forecast to climb to four million by 2025.  Diabetes accounts for approximately a tenth of NHS budget each year, a total exceeding £9 billion2.
Jazz Panchoo, Business Director, UK and Ireland, BD Medical - Diabetes Care, comments: “Helping patients with diabetes to manage their condition as effectively as possible is critical to managing their quality of life and their long-term health.  The better their self-administration technique, the less likely inaccurate dosing or other complications become.  Also the earlier in the condition that good injection technique can be developed, the more positive impact there is likely to be on longer-term health outcomes.

“In support of diabetes specialists and nurses, we have launched this range of literature in order to contribute to an improvement in patient education.  We have also recognised – and this is very unusual in the current diabetes literature available – that the style and language which appeal to, say teenagers is not the same as that designed for those with younger children, or young adults, or older people.  That’s why this time around we have created support literature specifically for different age groups.  Pre-launch testing has shown us that this approach is extremely popular and we hope that this will contribute to a major improvement in injection technique amongst the groups that this literature is hoping to reach.”

About BD
BD, a leading global medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents, is dedicated to improving people’s health throughout the world.  BD is focused on improving drug therapy, enhancing the quality and speed of diagnosing infectious diseases, and advancing research and discovery of new drugs and vaccines.  The Company’s capabilities are instrumental in combating many of the world’s most pressing diseases.  Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, BD employs approximately 28,000 people in approximately 50 countries throughout the world.  The Company serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry and the general public.  For more information, please visit www.bd.com.

Contacts:
Vikki Lomas
Corporate Communications
T: 01865 781607

[1] Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating [DAFNE] Study Group, 2001; Gray et al, 2000; Gilmer et al, 1997
[2] Source: Diabetes UK, October 2008