expert Dr. Tom Flood.

And Dr. Flood, Medical Director of the Georgia Centre for Diabetes in Atlanta, will speak about the new research to Bermudians at a meeting tonight, as part of Diabetes Awareness Month.

More than 750 members of the Bermuda Diabetic Association are expected at the meeting, entitled "Rising Above Complications'' at St. Paul's Christian Education Centre, in Paget.

However the association has invited anyone interested in diabetes to attend.

Dr. Flood is keen that people should attend to find out more about the subject. And he is full of praise for the work of the association.

He said: "Eight to 10 percent of people in Bermuda are diabetics. There is always the `fudge factor.' We know there are diabetics out there but they do not know because they are not seeing any symptoms.

"There are 14 million diabetics in the US. Ten million that we know about and four million undisclosed.

"Often people find they are diabetic when they are in hospital for something else or are having health checks for insurance. For people over 40 to have annual checks for diabetes is not being over-cautious.'' To be more specific, Dr. Flood estimates that in Bermuda one in 20 people over the age of 40 and one in 10 people over 65 suffer from diabetes.

Recently three people joined the Bermuda Diabetic Association after having health checks at work, according to coordinator Mrs. Debbie Jones.

Symptoms include constant urination, abnormal thirst, hunger, weight loss, irritability, weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, itching and a tingling numbness in the feet.

Speaking about recent research, Dr. Flood said: "There is a lot of hot stuff happening at the moment. This is not a bad time to be a diabetic.

"I will tell the people at the meeting tonight about future developments and how to improve their therapy. I think some improvements are right around the corner.'' Dr. Flood believes that cures could be found for certain types of diabetes in the future but he says at the moment prevention is more important.

Tonight, there will be blood sugar and blood pressure testing from 7.15 p.m.

The meeting begins at 8 p.m.

Dr. Tom Flood.