For everyone with a glucose meter, monitoring diabetes is quick and simple process. Within a few seconds after daubing a miniscule amount of blood on a test strip, the concentration of sugar in your blood pops up on the meter’s screen. The glucose meter is so small and lightweight that it can be carried to and from work, out to dinner, on vacation–or around the world. Now imagine that instead of testing with a glucose meter, you had to go to a hospital or clinic every time you needed to test your blood sugar. You couldn’t...

I just returned from a trip to Tokyo for work and am finally over my jet-lag and settling back into my old routine.  It was a crazy week: not much sleep, constantly walking, and encountering carb-laden foods wherever I turned. Soba noodles for breakfast, tempura with rice for lunch, dough-covered sweetened chestnuts for a snack — it was a recipe for disaster. And indeed that’s what I thought I’d be writing about for my first post upon my return. (I ate more noodles last week than I have in years.) But here’s...

Diabetics are more susceptible to some of the more dangerous complications of both the regular seasonal flu and H1N1, also known as the swine flu. That’s why medical professionals and government agencies suggest diabetics get both types of flu vaccines. It’s also important to stay on top of blood sugar management since the illness can mask symptoms of either high or low blood sugar. U.S. News & World Report recently published an article containing a list of six things diabetics need to know about the flu: 1 – Be careful...

When you truly know a person, you know how he thinks and you can predict his actions.  When you truly know yourself, you understand the ebbs and flows of your moods and passions.  But a disease like diabetes throws a wrench in this.  Your body begins to do things that are alien.  You don’t feel like yourself. We researchers and health care professionals use scientific knowledge to create therapies and predict disease outcomes. For the non-scientist, however, understanding the science behind the disease is every bit as useful. ...