EASD 2023: the women agenda
In October 2023, I was lucky enough to attend EASD (European Association for the Study of Diabetes) conference in Hamburg after winning a scholarship with the #dedoc° voices program. And what an experience that was!
Among the other voices, I found my tribe: a group of like-minded middle-aged women, coming from all four corners of the world, and all very keen to advocate and push their agenda to the front.
Alex Haggett found her tribe amongst other #dedoc° voices and diabetes advocates at EASD 2023. Source: Alex Haggett.
My calendar was full with talks on many subjects linked to diabetes, such as the future of treatment with stem cell therapy, the latest research on cardio-vascular diseases, neuropathy, treating hypoglycaemia, cognition, diabetes technology and its impact, and mental health. I attended as many sessions as I could, trying to get the key messages out and tweeting about it to my followers within the diabetes online community, #GBDoc.
It was so encouraging to feel the energy within these talks given by people trying to better understand the disease and its associated complications, to further research into stem cell therapy, technology, and medication.
The missing piece: diabetes and ageing
Discussions about menopause are gathering momentum all over the world. Women are demanding more support for this stage of life, be it at work or medically. After all, it does impact half of the planet’s population.
In the UK, I’m part of a group of menopausal women and we’re trying to push for more information. I came to the conference with loads of questions about getting older with diabetes, and particularly the impact of menopause on people with diabetes.
Alex Haggett and other #dedoc° voices attending a session at EASD 2023 in Hamburg. Source: Alex Haggett.
While there were talks about CKD, neuropathy, and dementia, having gendered results amongst studies is still not common practice. Of course there has been research on puberty and pregnancy, and the impact of blood sugar level fluctuations, but for that later stage of women's health, there is sadly no research. Yet blood sugars do fluctuate with the hormonal decrease associated with menopause and the symptoms experienced by a generation of women are being ignored and not researched.
Menopause shouldn’t be considered as an additional complication but a natural effect of ageing.
Diabetes and menopause: asking for more
Since we had been granted Prof. Chantal Mathieu’s blessing to ask questions during talks, I tried to stand up and bring the menopause question to the table. Sadly, though researchers acknowledge the lack of studies in the field and that it could be interesting to do more in that area, without any funding and without more uproar from the patients, it will sadly not take place.
#dedoc° voice and diabetes advocate Alex Haggett addresses a panel at EASD 2023 with questions on menopause. Source: Alex Haggett
With a few fellow #dedoc° voices, we are advocating to bring women’s health to the table, and are getting involved wherever possible, hoping to get answers: if not for ourselves, for our daughters.
Getting involved internationally started at EASD: let’s carry on doing so at other conferences.
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