People with Diabetes
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Born in Pontypridd in 1938.
Diagnosed Type 1 in Cardiff in 1945

Overview: Allan Jones` father was a miner with six children. They had little money but had to pay for insulin and equipment until the National Health Service was created in 1948. They couldn`t afford cotton wool and re-used needles until they were blunt. When Allan was 15 he got a job as a messenger on the railways but had to pass a medical before being promoted. He feared he would lose his job if his diabetes was discovered, so took with him a sample of his brother`s urine! He passed the medical and worked happily on the railways for 30 years.

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People with Diabetes 
More than 50 people with diabetes, diagnosed between 1927 and 2007, talk about how diabetes has affected � or not affected � their work, family life and friendships. They describe their encounters with the health service and with individual healthcare professionals and reflect on their experiences of changes in treatment and technology.

Together these interviews cover a crucial period in the history of diabetes - between the beginning of insulin treatment in 1923 and 21st century techniques that offer hope of a cure. They also cover a crucial period in the history of healthcare in the UK - before and after the 1948 creation of the National Health Service, which offered free care to everyone �from the cradle to the grave�.

The earliest memories of the period are provided by people whose (Type 1) diabetes was diagnosed when they were children, but there are also accounts by people whose (Type 2) diabetes was diagnosed in more recent decades.

In addition, there are interviews with 50 more people who cared for those with diabetes during the same period, including family members and healthcare professionals.
 
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