This Teenager Wants You To Know What Diabetes Really Looks Like

This is Madeline Milzark, an 18-year-old from Missouri. She's had type 1 diabetes for almost 10 years now.
There are three main types of diabetes: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. While both type 1 and type 2 are chronic conditions, type 1 is typically diagnosed in children, and type 2 is often diagnosed later in life. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy.
Last week Milzark wrote a Facebook post about what it's like to live with diabetes, and people have been sharing it across the globe.
"It's a disease that isn't picky when it chooses who to attack, it doesn't care if you're 2 months old or if you're 73. It doesn't care if you eat Big Macs and McChickens every day of your life or if you're a strict vegan who goes to the gym daily. Diabetes is me. Diabetes is a whole ton of people who fight for their life every single day and go to bed not sure if they're going to wake up the next morning. So before you tag your huge dessert #Diabetes, think about what #Diabetes really looks like".
Madeline says she's received hundreds of positive messages from the post, which has been shared over 5,000 times.
Facebook / Via facebook.com
She decided to write the post after her blood sugar crashed, resulting in her collapsing while home alone. It was sugar supplied by her grandmother that saved her life.
Madeline had her phone at the time and was able to text her grandmother, who brought her the sugar: "If she didn't there was no telling how long it would've taken her to find me and it would've probably been too late by then."
"I have to monitor my Continue reading

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Insulin pill may delay type 1 diabetes in some

(HealthDay)—It's often said that timing is everything. New research suggests this may be true when giving an insulin pill to try to prevent or delay type 1 diabetes.
Researchers tested the effect of insulin pills on 560 children and adults whose relatives had type 1 diabetes. For most of them, the drug had no effect on whether or not they developed type 1 diabetes, or how quickly they developed it.
But for those at the highest risk of developing type 1 diabetes sooner rather than later, insulin pill therapy delayed the time it took to develop the full-blown disease by about two-and-a-half years, the researchers said.
"This is the largest study using oral insulin," said the study's lead author, Dr. Carla Greenbaum. Participants also had known autoantibodies that indicated a very high risk of developing type 1 diabetes in their lifetimes, said Greenbaum, chair of Diabetes TrialNet.
Jessica Dunne, director of discovery research for JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), called the results "a huge success."
"We finally, for the first time, have been able to show a delay in the progression of type 1 diabetes," said Dunne. But the findings need to be replicated in additional studies, she added.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. It's far less common than type 2 diabetes, which is linked to excess weight and a sedentary lifestyle.
Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone. It's necessary for ushering the sugar from food into the body's cells for fuel. People with type 1 diabetes have little to no insulin because their immune system mistakenly attacked h Continue reading

Your child is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. These families have been there

Brooke Miller, a college freshman at the University of Florida, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 3.
“I don’t really remember my life without it because I was so young,” says the 18-year-old.
Her earliest memories are of feeling tired at school and her mother coming to give her insulin injections. She also remembers sitting on the kitchen floor at her Weston home trying to prick her finger to check her blood-sugar levels. “I wanted to be independent and do it on my own.”
Over the last 10 years, however, new technology such as the continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and insulin pump have been introduced and are becoming more sophisticated, allowing patients such as Miller more freedom and power over managing their condition.
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When Miller started using a CGM four years ago, providing her with a 24-7 reading of her glucose levels, she went from having to prick her finger six to seven times a day to calibrating the device and pricking her finger only two to three times per day. The CGM communicates with an insulin pump, which maintains the body’s glucose levels.
Brooke Miller has Type 1 diabetes.
ADP Andrew Duany
In Type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks part of the pancreas, destroying insulin-producing cells called islets. This leads to either no insulin produced or a severe shortage of the valuable hormone. It also results in dangerously high blood sugar levels, which can damage eyes, kidneys, nerves and the heart, and can lead to diabe Continue reading

CMS Must Ensure Seniors Have Access to Diabetes Prevention Resources

The scourge of type 2 diabetes across the United States costs American taxpayers billions of dollars every single year. Diabetes and diabetes-related treatment is one of the biggest drivers of rising health care costs for every payer — with Medicare spending more on treating those with the disease every year. This is particularly true in rural America, as the prevalence of diabetes and coronary heart disease is approximately 17 and 39 percent higher in rural areas than urban areas.
Policymakers from both sides of the aisle recognize this reality, and have embraced the challenge of confronting a preventable, but devastating, epidemic. Last month, for the first time in the agency’s history, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services laid out proposed rules to reimburse providers to proactively prevent chronic disease by paying for the evidence-based Diabetes Prevention Program for eligible beneficiaries. Last year, the CMS Actuary certified that this program both improved quality of care and reduced costs for Medicare.
But unfortunately, the proposed rule missed a huge opportunity to extend access to this benefit to the area most in need: rural America.
In the July 13 rule, CMS proposed only making in-person DPP providers eligible for reimbursement, despite enormous evidence that virtual providers can achieve equal, or even better, results with senior populations. In addition, CMS’ sister agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been recognizing digital programs for more than two years while also collecting data demonstrating these programs’ eff Continue reading

Seniors and Diabetes: Latest Info and Actions for Family Caregivers

Many of our senior loved ones have diabetes — 25.9%, or 11.8 million seniors over 65 are affected, according to the American Diabetes Association. That includes both cases that have been diagnosed and those that are undiagnosed.
A diabetes diagnosis means our blood glucose (sugar) level is too high. The higher the level, the greater the risk for complications.
It is also estimated that 50% of seniors have pre-diabetes which is a higher than normal level of blood sugar not yet diabetic. This is the point where prevention strategies can be effective if you are aware of the diagnosis.
Diabetes Care Challenging
Caring for person with diabetes can be complicated and challenging for family caregivers.
There are many complications from diabetes that family caregivers are struggling to prevent including heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, gum disease, nerve damage, amputations and heart attack or stroke. As a result we work very hard to manage the symptoms in our senior loved ones, follow a diabetic meal plan and help them get plenty of exercise.
Unfortunately, diabetes continues to be the 7th leading cause of death in the US as of 2010, with the diagnosis of diabetes taking an estimated 4-11 years off the life expectancy for our senior loved ones.
Because dealing with diabetes can become more difficult as your senior loved one ages, it is important to understand the risks of uncontrolled diabetes and the ways you can help manage it to help keep them healthy.
Latest Challenges for Seniors with Diabetes
There continues to be more information about diabetes coming out of the Continue reading