During the last 100 years, the treatment of diabetes mellitus in Britain underwent radical transformation. One of the most striking features of twentieth-century diabetes care was the increasing amount of self-management of the disease. In this talk, Dr Martin Moore explores how medical thought, patient experience and everyday practice of self-management were also influenced by broader structures in British politics, culture, and society. Dr Mark Strachan then continues the discussion with the latest, cutting-edge research currently being undertaken in Edinburgh.