Antigonish Lions Club - Lions e-Clubhouse

The Antigonish Lions Club is sadden with the passing of Lion Roger who helped me write this article. Lion Roger was not only an outstanding Lion he was a fantastic Diabetes Chairperson not only for the Antigonish Club but also contributed an enormous amount of work and leadership to Nova Scotia Distrct and to Lions at the Canadian level. He has given lectures on the International level. He is enourmosly missed by all of us.

Since that time Lion Charlie Cirtwill has taken over the Chair positions that Lion Roger had preformed. Lion Charlie is doing an outstanding job not only at our Club but for Nova Scotia District N2. (Lions Nova Scotia). Lion Charlie and Lion Roger were good friends and if anyone could try to duplicate Lion Roger's work with Diabetes it would be Lion Charlie. Thank you Lion Charlie for furthering the cause that Lion Roger has started.

DIABETES - A CALL TO ACTION

“Will you not hasten the day when there shall be no preventable blindness; no little deaf blind children untaught; no blind man or woman unaided? I appeal to you Lions, you who have your sight, your hearing, you who are strong and brave and kind. Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness.”

Helen Keller

International Convention

Lions Clubs International

1925

In 1982, International President Everett J ‘Ebb’ Grandstaff urged involvement of Lions in diabetes-oriented activities as a primary goal of his presidential program and designated November as Diabetes Education Month for Lions Clubs International.

In 1984, Lions Clubs International adopted diabetes awareness as a long-term commitment of the Association. The primary objective of the program is:

To reduce the number of new cases of blindness caused by diabetes retinopathy through diabetes education. (Diabetic retinopathy: This is a condition in which changes occur in the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina { the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye and changes the light into nerve messages to be transmitted to the brain}.
Early detection of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, and
Research into diabetic retinopathy.

In 1995, Lions Clubs International, recognized that diabetes eye disease is the leading cause of blindness amount adults in North America, adopted the Lions Eye Health Program.

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes affects the way that the body uses food. During normal digestion, the body converts sugars, starches, and other foods to a simple sugar called glucose. The bloodstream carries the glucose to the body’s cells where, with the help of insulin (a hormone produced in the pancreas), the glucose is converted into quick energy for immediate use or is stored for future use.

When diabetes is present, the glucose is not allowed to enter the body’s cells. The glucose produced from the food we eat accumulates in the blood stream and the blood sugar rises.

Diabetes develops because :

The body does not produce any insulin or
The body does not produce enough insulin, or
The body does not effectively use the insulin that is produced.

Symptoms of Diabetes (Consult a physician to verify)

Frequent urination (i.e. up at night to go to the bathroom).
Unusual thirst.
Changes in appetite.
Unexplained change in weight (increase or decrease).
Extreme fatigue.
Irritability.
Blurred vision.
Cuts or bruises that are slow to heal.
Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet.
Recurring skin, gum or bladder infections
Itchy skin.

(Community Partners Diabetes Awareness Program. Canadian Diabetes Association booklet, September 1999)

ANTIGONISH LIONS CLUB EDUCATES DIABETES

Below a patron who has donated to the Diabetes Tag Day (when they donate we give them a label which they 'tag' or stick to their jacket etc.) talks to Lion Roger about Diabetes. (November 12, 2011)

Most of you probably have seen some articles and pictures of Antigonish Lions Club giving a donation to someone in the community. We sometimes forget that a lot of work goes into making such a donation. The Lions Clubs are all over the world and some wonder who Are the Lions?

Lions meet the needs of local communities and the world. The 1.35 million members of our volunteer organization in 206 countries and geographic areas are different in many ways, but share a core belief – community is what we make it. Antigonish Lions Club is but one of these great Clubs.

In recent months I have had the pleasure of visiting other clubs near Antigonish and in one or two of those occasions I also had the opportunity to hear Past District Governor Bobby Dean, in a few of his official visits. The Governor said “As you know my theme this year is COMMUNITY RECOGNITION”. I would like every lions club in the district to let the people of your community know Who we are? What we do? why we do it? when we do it? Where we do it?” . He said the Lions and their work are the best kept secret in town. So being a little ambitious I thought I would unravel this myth to share a bit about the Lions in Antigonish. Lion Roger worked to help further this.

Below Lion Roger with Angela Follett from Life Scan giving out information to the Public about Diabetes at Shoppers in Antigonish.

Most lions would rather tell people about the projects they are working on. Such a Lion was Lion Roger Natarajan. I could have selected any of our Lions and their project. I am starting with Lions Roger who was the Diabetic Awareness Chair for Nov Scotia Lions. Perhaps after this article some more Lions will volunteer information on their projects.

As soon as I sat down with Lion Roger it became apparent of how much information he has on Diabetes. I sat there in awe of his knowledge of this subject. He has given lectures internationally on the subject and to be honest I will include a bit of information for those (like myself)not well informed on Diabetes subject and get the diabetes facts from him for the curious, on the subject.

When I asked Lion Roger what should people know about the subject he said that Diabetes is a chronic condition with no known cure as yet. There are symptoms that can help spot it such as unexpected loss of weight, getting tired all the time, frequently urination, vision problems, slow healing wounds just to mention a few. There are other symptoms but the point is that there are symptoms. A trip to the family physician followed by a lab test for blood sugar level will be in order, if you experience any one or more symptoms of diabetes, listed above.

Lion Roger also told me that there are treatment options that a Diabetic can do to help manage the condition of Diabetes. Diet, Insulin, exercise and others but more often the anxiety of learning one has Diabetes is often overlooked and it can seem quite upsetting to find out the news in the first place. But the situation is a lot better than it was, years ago when Diabetes in most cases was, in fact, a death sentence. He added that a person with diabetes back then, would have been facing the possibility of death within months if not years. Thanks to the discovery of insulin and other oral medications, and a vast knowledge of how the disease affects various parts of the body, diabetes is not difficult to manage today, and many diabetics live longer and healthier with a few changes in life style, judicious choice of good food and an active life.

One way to deal with Diabetes is to find out as much useful information on the subject as one can. Talking to your doctor, getting the pamphlets from the Drug store, checking recent developments in the Diabetic treatment, from the Internet and reading books on Diabetes can be helpful. Two books Lion Roger suggested are THE CANADIAN TYPE II DIABETES by Sara Rosenthal and a simple book from England, titled OUTSMART DIABETES from Rodale International Ltd., and edited by Dawn Bates 2006. He also stated the Candian website: www.diabetes.ca/ which is a major source of information and scholarly articles on diabetes. ......it is benifical to be referred by your family doctor to a diabetes education center as they have all the latest resources and provide education classes and individual councilling on diabetes.

One can form a support group of people with diabetes and meet on a regular basis to share some of their stories of how they are able to control their sugar and interesting episodes of successes and a few not so successful anectodes. You can always learn from others, no matter how knowledgeable you may be.

Lion Roger who is actually Dr. Roger has given many lectures on the topic of Diabetes. He was, for example, a Senior Research Scientist in Chemistry and Physics in many universities in Canada and abroad. He was also a Scientific consultant to Aerovox Canada and as most in Antigonish know him as a Research Scientist at St.FXU. For a series of Diabetes Lectures in India, he was awarded National Volunteer Award from the Canadian Diabetes Association, in 2006. His Diabetes work in the Nova Scotia Lions won the Diabetes Trophy and the Lions International President's certificate of appreciation for the Antigonish Lions Club. This year Lion Roger was again awared the International Lions certificates of appreciation. He has spoken to many clubs on the subject of Diabetes and it is his passion

Lion Roger had diabetes, himself, for 22 years. He told me of one incident when he gave himself a wrong dose of wrong insulin at the wrong time and ended up in the hospital very close to death. He stressed the importance of checking your blood sugar and following the treatment exactly as prescribed by the diabetes team. He also suggests that it is a very good idea for someone like your spouse, or a loved one reminding you to make sure of the medication , insulin etc., to avoid errors in regimen.

Lions Roger, beside being the Chair of the Antigonish Lions Diabetic Awareness Program was also the Chairman of the Nova Scotia District Diabetes Awareness and Camp Lion Maxwell for Children, and vice-chair for the National Liaison Committee of the Lions Foundtion of Canada and the Canadian Diabetes Association. His celebrated quote on “Diabetes” : The best known cure for DIABETES is PREVENTION. The good news is that type-2 diabetes can be prevented in most cases by careful life-style changes, avoiding stress and pursuing an active life.

Cavalcade for Diabetes on April 19 in Canning, N.S.

Pictures taken by PDG Mark at the Cavalcade for Diabetes on April 19 in Canning, N.S. Over $13, 000 was collected for Camp Lion Maxwell.

Lion Vic MacLellan with the Help of Lion Roger Natarajan whose patience and support helped to set up this page.

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For those wishing to have a dialogue on Diabetes, the lions club will arrange for such a dialogue by contacting our secretary on the main page (list of executiver) or contact any members of the Lions club. Some are listed under projects on our website.

Just click Club Projects it will give you some idea of the work of our Antigonish Lions club. There is a History of Lions and more information of Lions from other club. Sometimes we invite speakers to our club, from other organizations to talk about their projects that may be relevant to our own initiatives for the enrichment of our community.

Antigonish Lions Den on Highland Drive