“Diabetes” is actually a class of several chronic illnesses, including immune mediated diabetes mellitus (Type 1), insulin resistant diabetes mellitus (Type 2), and gestational diabetes mellitus. The common thread across all diabetes types is that patients’ bodies are not able to produce or use insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that allows us to convert sugar from the food we eat into energy for our body’s cells.

Case example: Michael was driving home from work one day and was caught in traffic. He suddenly noticed that his heart was beginning to race. He then felt short of breath, and tightness in his chest. When he began to sweat, he became concerned and drove to the nearest emergency room where they could find nothing physically wrong with

him. Michael had just experienced his first panic attack. Over the next few weeks, the attacks became worse, and he started to avoid driving altogether.

CIFA, being a supporting organisation of the 2010 Joint Conference on Social Work and Social Development, takes the opportunity to publizise its work and appeal for participation at the coming Regional Symposium in Japan in November. The CIFA leaflet (3rd edition) has been distributed at counter. Participants from many countries in the region have indicated interest in the work of CIFA and CIFA members on duty answered enquiries to provide further information.

A stepfamily forms when one or both adults in a new couple bring children from a previous relationship. Although stepfamilies look like first-time families on the outside, they are very different on the inside.

The 3A Project has received very encouraging response from six sub-regions with keen competition among high quality entries. Having gone through the process of vetting these projects, 16 projects (2 with same scores) have been short-listed as below.

The submission of initial entry synopsis ended on 26th April 2010. The first round result announcement will be on 17th May 2010. We will inform the individual participant upon the completion of the first round adjudication.

In the last 30 years, there has been a significant increase in the number of grandparent-headed families. Census data indicate that in the United States there are approximately 2.4 million grandparents raising 4.5 million children.

The National Institutes of Health estimate that as many as 22 million individuals in the United States have an autoimmune disease; over two-thirds of them are women. Autoimmune diseases are a diverse group of illnesses that share one key feature–the body views part of itself as a foreign substance and launches an attack on this tissue or organ.

Eating disorders are extreme disturbances in an individual’s behavior and feelings related to food, weight, and body image. They are most likely to develop in young women, during adolescence and young adulthood. But children, preteens, adult women, and men also may develop these problems. They are serious problems with life-threatening consequences.