We threw out the baby with the bath water when we discarded carbohydrate counting’, said Pat Clarke, Diabetes Specialist Nurse in Nottingham.

Pat described the case of a 21-year-old builder diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2000. He was put straight on to insulin but experienced consistently high glucose levels, particularly in the afternoons. A major problem identified was that he never changed his insulin doses to match the number of carbohydrate portions consumed. Being educated on how to do this has since helped him control his diabetes.