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Burgess Hill, 4th December 2007 |
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Godalming resident sets off on transatlantic rowing challenge made possible by new diabetes gadget
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This Sunday, 2 December, 36 year old Neil Hunter leaves the UK to take on the challenge of a lifetime. Neil from Godalming, who was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, and has a challenge in managing his health every day, is taking on one of the world's toughest ocean feats, the Woodvale Challenge. Thanks to a new all-in-one testing system, to help manage his blood glucose levels, Neil will embark on this 2,500 mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean, which will take him from La Gomera, in the Canaries, where the race starts to Antigua, in the Caribbean, where it finishes. He is expected to complete in 52 days.
Neil was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2005. A complete shock to him, it meant that he was now dependent on insulin requiring him to inject up to four times a day, plus review his diet and lifestyle and monitor his blood glucose levels regularly. Neil's ambition to row across the Atlantic might have just been a dream if he had not discovered a brand new blood glucose monitoring system from Roche Diagnostics, a world leader in diabetes care and a pioneer in monitoring solutions. The new gadget, the Accu-Chek Compact Plus, is the world's first all-in-one testing system, requiring half the usual number of steps required to test blood glucose levelsi.
Neil said: "As with the millions of other people with diabetes, I've had to rely on a blood glucose meter up to five times a day everyday since I was diagnosed. During the race I will be pushing my body to the absolute extreme and it's likely that my blood sugar levels will fluctuate. Being in the middle of the ocean and being able to rely on a really quick, easy and sturdy system is of 100% importance. I cannot doubt that I will be putting my body in danger. The Accu-Chek Compact Plus is helping me to make my dream a reality."
Careful blood glucose management is the cornerstone to good diabetes care. Regular testing to ensure that sugar levels are within a desired health range are important to avoid long-term complications that can arise from poor glucose management. This can include amputation, blindness, cardio-vascular disease and even death in extreme casesii.
Neil benefits from the Accu-Chek Compact Plus, which was only launched in the UK this November. It is a handy system that can be used with one hand and as it is an all-in-one gadget, it requires half the number of steps than needed with other meters. It also has a glow in the dark screen, so will withstand testing in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of the night.
Neil will be with his rowing parter Scott McNaughton, and they will take it in turns to row - two hours on and then two hours off. Neil is expected to complete his challenge at the end of January 2008.
i Glucose Monitoring Systems - Message Evaluation Research, April 2007
ii Diabetes Control and Complications Trial on Type 1 diabetes (New England Journal of Medicine, 329(14), September 30, 1993)
About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of drugs for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. In 2006 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 75,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai Roche's Diagnostics Division offers a uniquely broad product portfolio and supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories world-wide.
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