Richard Trevillion

A demonstrated leader in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, Mr. Richard Trevillion currently leverages his nearly twenty years of experience toward his position as Managing Director and CEO of Amity Partners, a corporate consulting firm he founded in 2001. Specializing in financial management, Richard Trevillion excels in negotiating mergers, acquisitions, and strategic restructurings. In his capacity as CEO, Richard Trevillion has spearheaded a number of impressive turnarounds for major pharmaceutical companies from throughout the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Outside of his leadership of Amity Partners, Richard Trevillion recently held the position of CEO for Meldex International PLC. Richard Trevillion joined the company in April 2005 as Interim CEO and remained as the fulltime CEO from May 2005 to September 2008. When Richard Trevillion joined Meldex International, the company was operating under the name BioProgress. Despite its strong potential and impressive technological offerings, BioProgress was burning funds rapidly and suffering from severe operational mismanagement. Under Mr. Trevillion’s guidance, the company was successfully restructured into an integrated specialty pharmaceuticals firm with steady annual revenues, a large and diverse product suite, and an increased presence in the global market. Richard Trevillion also initiated several successful partnerships with other prominent firms and expanded the company’s overall scope through acquisitions and mergers. A licensed solicitor, Richard Trevillion started his professional career with the law firm of Lovell White Durrant. After completing his practical legal training with Lovell White Durrant, Richard Trevillion joined Simmons & Simmons International Finance and Capital Markets Group where he was in charge of managing a variety of commercial finance projects. In Richard Trevillion’s next position, he served as a Manager for Coopers & Lybrand Corporate Finance. Richard Trevillion carried his experience into his next role as Co-Director of the Healthcare Corporate Finance team at Arthur Andersen from 1997 to 2000. Immediately prior to establishing Amity Partners, Richard Trevillion served as Director of the Healthcare and Life Science Corporate Finance Team at Close Brothers Corporate.

Diabetes Interest

Since August 2007 Richard has taken a special interest in Type 1 diabetes; distinct from Type 2. Type 1 is one of the few conditions with early age onset that remains incurable and has a dramatic impact upon the life of the sufferer and their carers.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and destroys them. Autoimmune disorders are disorders in which the body's immune system, which normally protects the body against foreign invaders, mistakenly identifies part of the body as foreign and attacks healthy tissue.

In the case of type 1 diabetes the body destroys the insulin-producing beta cells found in the pancreas. This means that the pancreas can't produce insulin - a hormone that your body needs to regulate levels of sugar in the blood and within cells.

Type 1 diabetes usually starts during childhood. It used to be sometimes called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, but because adults can also develop type 1 diabetes and because many people with type 2 diabetes also need insulin, these names have been dropped.

Doctors don't know exactly why the body attacks itself like this, but certain virus infections may play a part as well as inherited (genetic) factors.

What are the consequences of having type 1 diabetes?

Many types of cells in the body need glucose as a fuel, and insulin is needed to move glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. In type 1 diabetes, with no insulin, or very little insulin, being produced by the pancreas, glucose in the bloodstream cannot move into the cells where it is needed. This leads to glucose accumulating in the bloodstream - this is called hyperglycaemia. The reverse is called hypoglycaemia which can lead to coma's and death.

For the body to function well, blood glucose levels need to be kept within a healthy range, and high blood glucose (hyperglycaemia) can be the cause of many complications in people with diabetes. To combat hyperglycaemia, people with type 1 diabetes need to inject themselves with insulin several times a day to keep their blood glucose levels within a healthy range.

What are the complications of hyperglycaemia?

Having high blood sugar levels can lead to many complications both long term and short term.

Ketoacidosis

In the short term, if blood glucose levels remain high and hyperglycaemia goes untreated, a medical emergency called diabetic ketoacidosis may develop. This is when your body has no insulin to allow glucose to move out of the bloodstream and into the muscles and body cells. With the body's cells unable to access glucose as an energy source, the body starts to break down fat cells to use as energy. Unfortunately, a by-product of the breakdown of fats is toxic waste products called ketones. The ketones can build up in the blood and lead to a coma and even death.

Heart and blood vessel disease

An increased risk of heart disease (including heart attack), stroke and peripheral vascular disease is a long-term complication of high blood glucose and diabetes. This is caused by deposits in small blood vessels which make the vessels thicken and leak.

Neuropathy

Long-term complications of high blood glucose include neuropathy (nerve damage). The excess glucose in the blood damages the tiny blood vessels supplying nerves. Eventually the nerves fail to transmit signals to the brain properly, or at all. This can lead to tingling, numbness or burning pains in the hands, feet and legs, as well as erectile problems in men.

Nephropathy

Kidney damage (nephropathy) is another long-term complication of high blood glucose levels. Tiny blood vessels in the kidney normally filter waste products and excess fluid from the bloodstream. These are then excreted by the kidney into the urine. However, in type 1 diabetes the kidney's filtering system is damaged and waste products remain in the blood and protein leaks into the urine. Severe damage will lead to kidney failure, requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation.

Retinopathy

Damage to the blood vessels in the eye (retinopathy) is another complication of type 1 diabetes. This can lead to blindness. Cataracts and glaucoma are also more likely in people with type 1 diabetes than in people without.

Infections

An increased risk of infections - due to the immune system not functioning well - is yet another side-effect of high blood glucose.

Treatment and lifestyle issues

Because of the risk of developing complications from having high blood glucose levels, tight control of blood glucose so that it doesn't rise or fall outside of a healthy range is very important in type 1 diabetes. This is usually achieved by a combination of insulin injections and self-monitoring of blood glucose.

The level of glucose in the bloodstream is influenced all the time by food eaten, level of exercise or activity, other stresses on the body, such as infection or major surgery, as well as by insulin dose. People with diabetes must continually adjust their insulin doses based on factors such as their blood glucose levels, when they are going to eat and how much exercise is planned, so that they can try to achieve good blood glucose control.