Christel Marchand Aprigliano

Diagnosed at twelve with Type 1 diabetes, Christel Marchand Aprigliano works with other prominent advocates to heighten public awareness and create meaningful positive changes in the diabetes community. She is the founder of The DiabetesUnConference, the first multi day peer-to-peer idea exchange conference for all adults with diabetes. Christel also devotes time to Strip Safely, a grassroots advocacy program for blood glucose meter accuracy; and the community through Diabetes Advocates. You can find her thoughts on life with diabetes (and an understanding husband and beautifully crazy preschooler) on her blog, www.theperfectd.com.

5 Reasons Why People with Diabetes Aren’t Managing Well

If you took a survey of people with Type 1 diabetes and asked them to tell you what's frustrating about living with diabetes, many would answer that the disease's unpredictability drives them crazy. What worked perfectly yesterday doesn't work today. But sometimes it's emotional struggles that lead to poor diabetes management. Understanding why a person isn’t checking blood glucose or taking their medication is the an important step, and what motivates a person to do better depends on the reason for the lapse in diabetes management.

In Type 1 Diabetes Management, Fear Is Not a Motivator

From the moment of diagnosis, people with diabetes already live with secret fears of complications. Forcing people with diabetes to view others with complications, in my opinion, is cruel. It's also insulting to those, who despite their best efforts of diabetes management, may still have complications. Some people with very good blood sugar control can have a number of complications, while others with much worse control have minimal complications.

Five Things You Need To Know From The ADA 74th Scientific Sessions

Given that new tools to detect hypoglycemia, such as continuous glucose monitors, are now available, lead the authors to issue a target of 7.5% A1C for the entire pediatric population. It is important to note that despite the new lower recommendation, a recent study showed that only 32% of the Type 1 pediatric population met the previous ADA targets for their age group.

Food, Guilt and Diabetes

Personally, I do experience guilt about my diabetes, but have learned to better manage my thoughts and therefore control my mood. I do not think guilt can be prevented, but I think it can be reduced to a manageable level where it is productive rather than destructive.