Campaigners urge research into type 1 diabetes to be top of agenda in Scotland

Scottish MPs are being urged to make research into type 1 diabetes top of their agenda once again.
Families, who are affected by the condition, have joined up with campaigners to ask the Scottish Parliament to help find a cure by investing into more research.
Scotland has the third highest rate of type 1 diabetes in the world and numbers, especially in children under five, are on the rise.
Last month the government pledged a further £10m would be invested in continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and to help people monitor and treat their condition more easily.
An 11-year-old from Bathgate in West Lothian recently received an insulin pump which has aided her in managing her condition better
Speaking to the BBC, Amalia Holma, who was told she had type 1 diabetes when she was three, said: “I do finger pricks but I also check the CGM quite a lot to make sure my levels are ok. I can also feel when I’m going to go low and when I’m high.”
Type 1 diabetes was new to Amalia’s family as no one else in their family had ever had the condition before, so they had to learn all about it and how to manage it day to day.
Amalia’s father Dave, said: “It was an absolute rollercoaster because we had no history of this in our family, that we are aware of.
“No-one in our family has had type 1 diabetes so we knew very little about it. So it was a complete shock for us, stunned and then a very fast learning curve about how to deal with it.”
Before Amalia was given an insulin pump she would have to be woken up at random times throughout the night to ensure she was not suffering from a hypo.
The family now want more technology to be available to children to avoid the 19,000 injections they will otherwise receive by the time they are 18.
In Scotland, there are around 3,200 insulin pumps being used, which is an increase of more than 400 per cent since 2010.
The recent funding, which has been promised to the cause, will also help to provide more CGMs, which will be given to people who suffer regularly from severe hypos and young children.