DiabEasy as 123

29/10/2026

💙💜💚 GLP-1 receptor agonists: a nurse prescriber’s safety checklist

I was pleased to share the excellent SIMPLE approach to GLP-1 RA prescribing from the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society this week.

It got me thinking about the additional safety prompts that can be helpful when prescribing these medicines in practice.

I’ve put together this DiabEasyAs123 checklist to complement that consultation framework, with a particular focus on prescribing safety, retinal assessment, hypoglycaemia risk, adverse effects and ongoing review.

Both resources have the same aim: supporting informed, person-centred decisions and helping healthcare professionals prescribe safely.

📌 Save it as a quick reminder, and always refer to current NICE guidance, the BNF, local formulary and the individual product’s prescribing information.

Diabetes education that gives you the keys to a healthy heart! 💙💜💚

28/10/2026

Also sharing this from PCDOS
Four years after the American Diabetes Association and European Association for the Study of Diabetes last updated their joint consensus report on type 2 diabetes management, a 2026 update has been published. This iteration takes a broader view than their previous consensus documents, focusing more widely than just on hyperglycaemia.

In this video, Heather Bell and Pam Brown summarise the key recommendations and changes, compare the ADA/EASD guideline with NICE’s NG28, and discuss how the two fit within our regular practice.

Watch here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0zqt660

27/10/2026

Sharing this that PCCS has put together to assist GLP1 prescribing.

24/10/2026

❤️ Diabetes and Heart Failure – What’s the Link?
Click on pic to see it in full.
When we talk about diabetes and heart health, we often focus on blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol. But did you know that diabetes is also associated with an increased risk of developing heart failure? Here’s my way of describing it.

1: 💙 Persistently raised blood glucose can contribute to damage to blood vessels.

2: 💜 High blood pressure makes the heart work harder.

3: 💚 Changes in metabolism can contribute to damage to the heart muscle, while diabetes-related kidney disease can add further strain on the heart.

Over time, these factors can interact and affect how well the heart fills with blood and pumps it around the body.
But here’s the good news! There is plenty we can do to help protect our heart health.

1: 🔑 Keep your HbA1c within your individually agreed target.

2: 🔑 Know your blood pressure and work towards your agreed target.

3: 🔑 Manage your cholesterol.

And don’t forget the other important pieces of the jigsaw: protecting your kidney health, keeping active in ways that work for you, stopping smoking and maintaining a healthy weight where appropriate.

💡 Diabetes care is about so much more than glucose control. It’s about reducing cardiovascular risk, protecting our organs and supporting people to live well for longer.

One final thought: heart failure doesn’t mean the heart has stopped working. It means the heart isn’t pumping effectively enough to meet the body’s needs, or can only do so at higher filling pressures.

📌 Save this post as a reminder of the links between diabetes and heart health, and share it with someone who might find it useful.

💙💜💚 DiabEasyAs123 – Diabetes education that gives you the Keys to a Healthy Heart!

17/10/2026

💙💜💚 WORDS MATTER IN DIABETES CARE!
The words we use can empower and inspire — helping people feel listened to, understood and confident in managing their diabetes.
Living with diabetes involves making decisions every day, often alongside work, family commitments, financial pressures and other challenges. We cannot always know what someone is dealing with unless we take the time to ask.
Rather than making assumptions, what about asking:
💙1: 💬 “What might be making this difficult for you?”

💜2: 💬 “What do you think could be getting in the way of healthier blood sugar for you?”

💚3: 💬 “What changes feel realistic and helpful for you?”

These questions open up conversations, encourage reflection and help us work with people rather than simply telling them what they should do.
This isn’t about finding fault with the language healthcare professionals use. It’s about recognising that small changes in how we communicate can make a real difference to the experience of living with diabetes.
❤️ People first. Be curious. Listen without judgement. Work together.
Let’s make every conversation an opportunity to support, educate and empower.
📌 Save and share with colleagues who are passionate about improving diabetes care!


The key reference to accompany the post is:
NHS England. Language matters: Language and diabetes.
Read the full document here: NHS England — Language matters: language and diabetes. See link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/language-matters-language-and-diabetes/

13/10/2026

Once weekly insulin treatment for Type 2 diabetes! Starting to think it’s getting ever more complicated! It’s so hard to keep up with all the advances!
See link:

A new once-weekly insulin treatment for adults with type 2 diabetes has been authorised by the MHRA

12/10/2026

Risk of Ketone testing strip shortages. See link:

There is a risk of disruption to blood ketone testing because of quality control failures and supply interruption affecting some test strips

12/10/2026

I’m sharing this again for new followers as it’s such a good analogy to use to encourage people living with diabetes to attend their annual review.
This is my explanation.

🚗 Your annual diabetes review is like an MOT for your body.

When your car goes for its annual MOT, it’s not a test of how good a driver you are.

It’s there to make sure everything is working safely, identify any problems early and help keep you on the road.

Your annual diabetes review has exactly the same purpose.

It’s not about passing or failing. It’s not about being judged.

It’s about checking that everything is working as well as it can and making small adjustments to help keep you healthy for years to come.

During your review, your healthcare team will check things like:
❤️ Blood pressure
🩸 HbA1c
🫘 Kidney health
👁️ Eye screening
🦶 Foot checks
💊 Medications
🫀 Cholesterol and cardiovascular risk

Here’s something I often say…

If you owned a Porsche, you’d never ignore the service schedule or wait for a warning light before taking it to the garage. You’d look after it because it’s valuable.

But your body is worth far more than any Porsche.

You can replace a car.
You only get one body.

So when your diabetes review invitation arrives, don’t think of it as an exam.

Think of it as your annual MOT—a chance to keep everything running as smoothly as possible and reduce the risk of problems further down the road.

💙 – because prevention is always better than repair.

Please feel free to share or comment!

08/10/2026

💙 KNOW YOUR BP MEDICINES
There are several different groups of medicines we use to manage hypertension — and knowing what they do and where they fit in the treatment pathway can make prescribing and medicines reviews much easier.

So here’s a quick DiabEasyAs123 refresher 👇

💊 ACE inhibitors
Think ramipril, lisinopril and perindopril.

💊 ARBs
Think losartan, candesartan and irbesartan.

💊 Calcium-channel blockers
Think amlodipine.

💊 Thiazide-like diuretics
Think indapamide.

💊 Beta-blockers
Think bisoprolol.

But perhaps the most important message on the infographic is:

🚨 ACE OR ARB — NOT BOTH!

If an ACE inhibitor isn’t tolerated — for example because of a persistent cough — an ARB can be offered instead.

They should NOT be prescribed together for hypertension. NICE NG136 is very clear on this.

For adults with type 2 diabetes and hypertension, NICE sets out a stepwise approach:

👉 Step 1: ACE OR ARB
👉 Step 2: Add a CCB OR thiazide-like diuretic
👉 Step 3: ACE/ARB + CCB + thiazide-like diuretic

And what about Step 4?

That’s where we move into resistant hypertension — and things get a little more complicated. NICE recommends confirming resistant hypertension and considering a fourth antihypertensive, such as low-dose spironolactone in appropriate people, or an alpha- or beta-blocker depending on potassium levels. Specialist advice may also be needed.

👉 I’ve deliberately not included all the Step 4 detail here — there’s plenty more on this in my courses! 😉

Because BP treatment isn’t simply about following a ladder.

The choice of treatment needs to take the person in front of you into account: their diabetes, CKD, CVD, heart failure, age, ethnicity, other medicines, frailty, potential adverse effects and, importantly, their preferences.

And of course, lifestyle (healthy living) support remains part of BP management — not something we simply mention once and tick off. ❤️

📚 Based on NICE NG136: Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management — updated February 2026.

I hope this is a useful little BP medicines refresher!

What other BP prescribing pearls would you add? 👇

07/10/2026

🩺 BLOOD PRESSURE TARGETS — SO, WHAT ARE WE ACTUALLY AIMING FOR?
Blood pressure targets can sometimes feel like a bit of a minefield — particularly when we start talking about age, diabetes, CKD, home monitoring and standing BP!
So here’s a simple reminder of the NICE targets 👇

❤️ For adults with hypertension UNDER 80 years:

🎯 Clinic BP: