Something happens to me when the blackberries start ripening. I don’t know if its some primitive impulse to stock up for the lean winter months, but suddenly, I NEED to forage. My local wasteland is a huge area of landfill under the Heathrow flightpath, but it’s covered in wild flowers- vetch and mullein and teasel. […]Read Post ›

As an author, there are few moments more exciting than seeing your book in its final form. Holding the product of your ideas and imagination in your hands, knowing that this book represents countless hours of dreaming, writing and editing your story, not to mention the arduous and often dis-spiriting efforts to find a publisher. […]Read Post ›

In the early 1920s, diabetes was a deadly and virtually untreatable disease. Back then, diabetes patients could be expected to live only a few years after diagnosis. Dr. Frederick Banting, a Canadian doctor, became interested in diabetes after reading a paper that discussed the role of the pancreas in diabetes. He believed that if he […]Read Post ›

Diabetes burnout is a term used to describe the emotional and mental exhaustion that can, and often does, result from the constant demands of living with diabetes. People with diabetes have to manage their blood sugar levels, think about their food and exercise, monitor their symptoms regularly and deal with symptoms that get in the […]Read Post ›

It’s now just over 10 years since our daughter Cara was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Back then, we were living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As feeble foreigners, we were sick a lot of the time, so even though Cara had been losing weight, was always hungry and recently had become desperately thirsty and started […]Read Post ›

Diabulimia has been in the news a fair bit recently, partly thanks to the parliamentary investigation into type 1 disordered eating that is happening at the moment. It is a term used to describe an eating disorder that affects some people with type 1 diabetes. Shockingly, it’s really common- in the UK, up to 4 […]Read Post ›

Worldwide, sales of breast pumps are estimated to have reached 8.4 million units by 2022. The United States represents the largest market worldwide with Asia-Pacific ranking as the fastest growing market. While some of these pumps may be purchased by mothers who have breastfeeding difficulties, or mothers who are returning to work after maternity leave, increasingly new mothers, or even […]Read Post ›

The 2016 Lancet report states that if almost every woman breastfed their baby, 800,000 thousand deaths per year could be prevented (Victora et al, 2016). Not only could better breastfeeding rates have an enormous effect on health and well-being in terms of lower mortality and morbidity  but it could impact on the environment (both ecologically […]Read Post ›