Rankin Inlet (Dec 01/04) - A large group of young and old turned out at the Northern Store in Rankin Inlet to have their blood sugar checked this past month.

Diabetes awareness day was held on Nov. 20 as a joint effort between the Northern, the Diabetic Support Group, dietician Debbie Leach, Home Care, the health centre and Public Health.

The event was held in support of November being diabetes awareness month.

The event was held to raise the group's profile and get people thinking more about diabetes, says Michele Ashby, the Diabetic Support Group's co-ordinator. "Basically, we offered random testing for blood glucose or blood sugar."

"We also offered free healthy snacks and distributed lots of information on diabetes, including recipes, brochures on signs, symptoms and prevention.

"If anyone tested a bit high, we recommended they go to the health centre for a follow up exam."

Ashby herself was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes about three years ago.

She says her main goals are to watch her diet and increase her exercise regime.

A healthy diet and regular exercise can greatly reduce the severity of the long-term impact of diabetes.

"The reality of having diabetes for me was that for the first year I did really great, but it's hard to maintain.

"I have to admit, I slipped off a bit and would say I'm about half-way to where I need to be, which I'm feeling more than a little guilty about because for the first year, I could have been a poster child for diabetes."

While diabetes is often geared by a person's genetic makeup -- most people who develop diabetes have a family history of the disease -- watching one's diet and exercising regularly can reduce the chance of developing diabetes in the future.

"I'm not happy to have diabetes, obviously, but to be perfectly honest, if I had to be diagnosed with a disease, I'd rather have diabetes than nine or 10 others I could easily name.

"And that's because there is so much you can do to lessen the impact.

"With Type 2, there's a lot you can do to help yourself."