People with Diabetes
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Born in Fiji Islands in 1934.
Diagnosed Type 2 in Birmingham in 1980

Overview: David`s father was a Fijian doctor whose work took him all round the Fiji islands. David himself managed a small post office before coming to England in 1959. His wife and baby son joined him later and they had six more children. He had converted from Methodism to his wife`s Catholicism and his children attended Catholic schools in Birmingham. He worked long hours to support them, as a telecommunications engineer, until he retired at the age of 60. He used to dream of returning to Fiji but now feels he couldn`t leave his children and grandchildren.

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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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