# 'Type 1 diabetes is my superpower': Grantchester star James Norton



## Matt Cycle (Apr 23, 2019)

James Norton is a rapidly rising star in the acting firmament, playing Grantchester's ruggedly handsome and much-loved vicar Sidney Chambers for three years.

He then smouldered on TV as Andrei Bolkonsky in War & Peace, was the terrifying villain Tommy Lee Royce in BBC1's Happy Valley and banker-turned-gangster Alex Godman in McMafia. He's even been tipped as the next James Bond.

But behind the scenes, what viewers don't see is that James, 33, always has a glass of orange juice to hand on film sets, just in case his blood sugar drops too low. Or that if he's doing a scene without his top on, there'll be a glucose monitor stuck out of sight on his bottom.

For James has type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition that affects around 300,000 people in the UK and is on the rise.

It occurs when the body's defence system mistakenly attacks beta cells in the pancreas where the hormone insulin is produced (by contrast, type 2 diabetes is linked to poor diet and obesity).

Outwardly, type 1 is an invisible condition: people look healthy. But poorly controlled blood glucose (also known as blood sugar) can wreak havoc, damaging the tissues — particularly the small blood vessels in the eyes, the kidneys and those that supply the nerves in the hands and feet.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/...cally-placed-glucose-monitor-naked-shots.html


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## Northerner (Apr 23, 2019)

Always interesting to read about someone in the public eye and how they deal with things


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## Matt Cycle (Apr 23, 2019)

Northerner said:


> Always interesting to read about someone in the public eye and how they deal with things



Far be it for me to give him advice on managing his T1 but 15 injections a day!   On the whole it's a fairly well written and well balanced article for the DM.


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## Northerner (Apr 23, 2019)

Matt Cycle said:


> Far be it for me to give him advice on managing his T1 but 15 injections a day!   On the whole it's a fairly well written and well balanced article for the DM.


Does sound a bit like micro-managing on injections trying to mimic a pump/artificial pancreas. Takes me longer than 7 seconds to sort an injection out, even after 11 years practice!


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Apr 23, 2019)

He comes across as an affable chap (plus easy on the eye ) loved him in War & Peace.
15 injections a day is a lot


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## mikeyB (Apr 25, 2019)

Yes, he could manage easier with a pump. Not a good look in War and Peace, mind.


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## nonethewiser (Apr 25, 2019)

Matt Cycle said:


> Far be it for me to give him advice on managing his T1 but 15 injections a day!   On the whole it's a fairly well written and well balanced article for the DM.



Suppose if it works it works, before moving to a pump 10 injections was a common occurrence , some meals just needed a top up otherwise it was impossible to keep bg within range.


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