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January 2017

A decade of living with diabetes

By Health, Thinking2 Comments
diabetes-BM-reader-large

Diabetes/Health Logo Illustration. Copyright © Sye Watts/Antony Simpson, 2014.

 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a decade ago. You can read my story of how I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes here.

In the last decade not much has changed. I’m still testing my blood sugars 2-3 times a day. I’ve used various BM monitoring meters over this time, but they’ve all essentially done the same job. I’ve recently switched to the TEE2 Blood Glucose Meter by Spirit Healthcare Ltd which is one of a few that connects to desktop computers and produces reports on BM readings. Tracking trends and so forth. I will review this meter on my blog in due course.

I’m still injecting myself with artificial insulin 4 times a day. I’m still going for annual podiatry checks, annual retinopathy screening and annual diabetic review appointments with my GP and Practice Nurse.

Over the last decade there’s been countless reports in the media of better treatments or even potential cures for diabetes. But so far, nothing has materialised.

My hope for the future is that one day I’ll be healthy again. Let’s hope that the next decade brings better treatments and perhaps even a cure.

Write soon,

Antony

You can learn more about diabetes by visiting these external links:



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Monday 30 January 2017

Holocaust Memorial Day: Francine Christophe Shares a Powerful Story of being a Child in a Concentration Camp

By The Web, ThinkingNo Comments

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day.

Francine Christophe was a child when she and her mother were put into a Concentration Camp for being Jewish. In this video she shares a powerful story from her childhood. It is beautifully told, sad and has a wonderful ending. I encourage you all to watch it, it is four minutes that I think you will find meaningful:

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Take care,

Antony

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Friday 27 January 2017

Book Review: Cell by Stephen King

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
cell-stephen-king-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
 Cell by the remarkable Stephen King is an addictive read, which is a must read to anyone who likes disaster stories or zombie stories.

In Cell at 3:03pm on the 1st of October a Pulse is emitted that is transmitted to everyone with a mobile phone. They become zombie-like and start attacking those who didn’t have a mobile phone and therefore weren’t affected.

Clay is a young artist who has just made his big break. He is away from home and just out of an important meeting when the pulse strikes. Minutes after The Pulse, Clay meets Tom, a gay man. They join together to survive chaos and attacks.

Clay is adamant that he must get home to find out what has happened to his wife and son.

Clay’s son has a mobile phone, but it’s usually under his bed. He has to hope that this was the case when The Pulse struck and that somehow his wife survived the proceeding chaos and attacks. Tom joins him.

Clay and Tom are first joined by Alice, a 15 year old girl and later by Jordan, a scholarship student from a private school.

Clay and crew start to see changes in the zombie-like people’s behaviour. First they start to flock, all drawn together and moving in certain patterns. The zombie-like people come out during the day, but disappear at night.

Clay and crew destroy a flock resting at night. They later learn that the flocks have a shared intelligence and communicate through telepathy. The flocks know who Clay and his comrades are and what they did.

Can Clay reach home? And if so, what will be the fate of his wife and son?

The characters were likeable, had depth and the reader comes to care about them. The description was clear and concise, enabling the reader to imagine scenes perfectly – adding suspense. The thrilling plot was utterly riveting from the first word until the last.

I read this book in just a few days, despite being exceptionally busy. I just couldn’t put it down. It is without a doubt a King classic.

My only criticism of Cell was that it was too short. Cell is a total of 473 pages, meaning it is about the average size of a novel. But having read the mammoth-sized novels The Stand and Under The Dome both by King, I would have loved Cell to be of that length.

Cell is an absolutely excellent read. You can buy Cell on Amazon and at all good bookshops.

Review soon,

Antony

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Thursday 26 January 2017

#MentalHealthMonday – A list of Famous People who have experienced Mental Illness

By Health, Inspiration, ThinkingNo Comments

Below are a list of famous people who have experienced mental health illness (in alphabetical order and by condition):

Anxiety and depression often coexist. Bipolar is characterised by episodes of mania which can include anxiety and episodes of depression. So although many of these people could fit under more than one mental illness, I have placed them in the condition that I feel bet fits.

Anxiety

MI-Charles-Darwin

Charles Darwin, Naturalist & Geologist [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Heath-Ledger

Heath Ledger, Actor [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © HeathUltimate on Tumblr.
MI-Matt-Haig

Matt Haig, Author
According to his own book Reasons to Stay Alive
Image From & Copyright © Matt Haig
MI-Vincent-van-Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, Painter [Deceased] According to Brain Pickings
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.

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Bipolar

MI-Ben-Stiller

Ben Stiller, Comedian & Actor
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Vulture.
MI-Britney-Spears

Britney Spears, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Celebmafia.
MI-Carrie-Fisher

Carrie Fisher, Advocate & Actress [Deceased] According to Hannah Parkinson at The Guardian
Image From & Copyright © The Wall Street Journal.
MI-Catherine-Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Actress
According to Express
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Isaac-Newton

Isaac Newton, Mathematician & Physicist [Deceased] According to Famous Bipolar People
Image From & Copyright © Wikipedia.
MI-Russell-Brand

Russell Brand, Comedian
According to Wikipedia
Image From & Copyright © Letters Live.

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Depression

MI-Abraham-Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, Politician & Former President of the USA [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © bio.
MI-Alanis-Morissette

Alanis Morissette, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Alanis Morissette on Twitter.
MI-Anne-Rice

Anne Rice, Author
According to Your Dictionary
Image From & Copyright © The Daily Beast.
MI-Charles-Dickens

Charles Dickens, Writer [Deceased] According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © bio.
MI-Denise-Welch

Denise Welch, Actor & Presenter
According to Denise Welch in the Mirror
Image From & Copyright © Daily Star Sunday.
MI-Dolly-Parton

Dolly Parton, Singer
According to Dolly Parton in the Mirror
Image From & Copyright © Syedammaralavi1 on Pinterest.
MI-Drew-Barrymore

Drew Barrymore, Actress
According to Caroline Bologna on The Huffington Post
Image From & Copyright © Drew Barrymore on Twitter.
MI-Emma-Thompson

Emma Thompson, Writer & Actress
According to Roya Nikkhah at The Telegraph
Image From & Copyright © Hamilton Hodell Talent Management.
MI-George-Michael

George Michael, Singer [Deceased] According to People Music
Image From & Copyright © Lynn Allaway on The Huffington Post.
MI-Harrison-Ford

Harrison Ford, Actor & Film Producer
According to living in stigma
Image From & Copyright © QUEERTY.
MI-J.K-Rowling

J.K Rowling, Author
According to The Mighty
Image From & Copyright © MTV.
MI-Jim-Carrey

Jim Carrey, Comedian & Actor
According to Mental Health Daily Blog
Image From & Copyright © AngelicView.
MI-Kylie-Minogue

Kylie Minogue, Singer
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Mirror.
MI-Princess-Diana

Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess [Deceased] According to depression-guide.com
Image From & Copyright © Dr. Rebecca Hains.
MI-Robbie-Williams

Robbie Williams, Singer
According to The Independent
Image From & Copyright © Robbie Williams Store.
MI-Robin-Williams

Robin Williams, Comedian & Actor [Deceased] According to The Independent
Image From & Copyright © DAVID LANZILAO/REDUX on Daily Beast.
MI-Ruby-Wax

Ruby Wax, Comedian, Actress & Writer
According to herself in her autobiography How Do You Want Me? and in her two books about mental health: Sane New World & Frazzled
Image From & Copyright © MindBodySpirit.co.uk.
MI-Stephen-Fry

Stephen Fry, Presenter & Writer
According to Stephen Fry himself on his blog
Image From & Copyright © Stephen Fry.
MI-Stephen-King

Stephen King, Author
According to Stephen King himself in an interview with The Guardian
Image From & Copyright © eddymarchini on Pinterest.
MI-Trisha-Goddard

Trisha Goddard, Presenter
According to Amanda Green
Image From & Copyright © Alchetron.
MI-Winston-Churchill

Winston Churchill, Politician and Former Prime Minister of the UK [Deceased] According to Paul Foley at the Black Dog Institute. Winston Churchill famously called his depression the black dog.
Image From & Copyright © ITV News.

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I know there’s loads of famous people who have experience of mental illness who are not on these lists. If you feel compelled to tell me whom I’ve missed off, please leave a comment below.

The point of this blog post is to show someone experiencing mental illness that they are not alone. That they are among the great and the good.

mental-health-focus

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts with a Mental Health Focus. You can read them here: 5 Brilliant TED Talks About Mental Health, I’ve Been One of the 1 in 4, A List of Common Conditions and Treatment & Recovery.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Monday 23 January 2017
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