Introducing ENDIAN 1400!

Introducing our 1400th participant in the making! This little bubba-to-be also has a big brother, Luke, enrolled in ENDIA because their mum, Nadia, lives with type 1 diabetes. We were very lucky to catch up with Nadia recently to find out more about her experiences with type 1 diabetes and participation in the ENDIA Study.

Nadia was diagnosed at age 19 years. She recalls it being a very trying time as a young adult being used to eating whatever she wanted when she wanted. This was complicated by the fact that her mother, of Indian background, and her father, Chinese, favoured a high carbohydrate diet. From then on, naan breads, roti, noodles and rice were significantly reduced from her meals.

Her first pregnancy with Luke was “easy”. She used flash monitoring which was straightforward to use and saved numerous finger pricks each day. Nadia didn’t like to use an insulin pump as she liked to keep in control of her diabetes management rather than rely on a machine. And what great control! Her A1c sat at 6.2 – 6.3 throughout her pregnancy (bar the occasional hypo). She had no pregnancy complications. However, he was a big baby. We put this down to the fact that his father, Michael, is 6’4”! Luke has been a healthy and happy little boy since.

Luke having his blood test for ENDIA whilst his Daddy, Michael, gives him a cuddle.

The ENDIA Study was raised to Nadia by her doctor at the Royal Women’s Hospital during a clinic visit. She and her husband were keen to help. Nadia was also pleased to know her children would be screened for type 1 diabetes as well as contributing to important type 1 diabetes research into the causes of the condition. She is very thankful and appreciates the opportunity to be a participant of the ENDIA study as this has been very beneficial to her family. For example, during the first blood screening on Luke, it picked up very early that he was vitamin D deficient. According to Nadia this would have not been picked up by a GP as there were no symptoms. Another benefit to her family was that all the tests are free. Nadia and her husband love the research updates they receive and being part of this exciting research.

Nadia is finding this pregnancy a little more challenging and unsure whether this is due to type 1 diabetes or being a little older than before. She is receiving help from her health care team and she is considering finding more out about current technologies including CGM. Nadia also sends a big thank you to ENDIA Nurse, Belinda, who is “so good with Luke”.

The ENDIA Team wishes Nadia all the best with the rest of this pregnancy. We can’t wait to meet our 1400th ENDIAN!