Category: Living

ASL - 4th Anniversary

ASweetLife Turns 4: The Best Diabetes Blogs of the Year

The Diabetes Online Community's (DOC) support has been immeasurable. We felt this more than ever on Monday when our science editor, Karmel Allison, nearly fainted as she stood behind President Obama, supporting him while he addressed the nation on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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T1D Innoovations logo

JDRF Invests $5 Million in T1D Innovations, New Diabetes Start-Up

JDRF and PureTech, a technology development company, have announced the launch of T1D Innovations, a novel venture-creating entity designed to accelerate the development of innovative Type 1 diabetes therapies as part of PureTech’s broader “Valley of Life” initiative; an effort designed to commercialize breakthroughs in areas of great unmet medical need by bringing together interested companies, disease foundations, and investors.
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Tom Hanks - Diabetes

Tom Hanks Has Type 2 Diabetes

Tom Hanks has type 2 diabetes. He revealed his diagnosis on the David Letterman Show. Hanks said the doctor told him, "You know those high blood sugar numbers you've been dealing with since you were 36? Well, you've graduated.
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I am a Diabetic

Accepting Diabetes: A Man’s Journey

Seeing the number in front of me was, I suppose, another moment where I had to accept a truth. Then, if that weren’t enough confirmation already, the nurse left the room and in a little while the doctor came barging in the door and said unceremoniously, “Yep, you’re diabetic.”
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Diabetes Test Strips

Why You Should Worry About the Accuracy of Your Glucose Test Strips

CMS recently rolled out competitive bidding for glucose test strips, a highly controversial process which set the reimbursement amounts that Medicare is willing to pay for glucose test strips. These new prices went into effect on July 1, 2013. You can read Medicare’s summary of the changes here; as the New York Times reported (in a poorly researched article that does not acknowledge any potential quality or safety issues), whereas Medicare used to pay $77.90 for 100 test strips, it now will pay $22.47 – a 72% reduction.
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Obamacare and Diabetes: Will the Affordable Care Act Live Up to Its Promises?

Obamacare and Diabetes: Will the Affordable Care Act Live Up to Its Promises?

Perhaps you are one of the millions of Americans currently wondering what is going to happen on October 1st, the day when the Health Insurance Marketplace of the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) opens for business. This is a particularly important question for people with diabetes because at the moment, the fact that we have a pre-existing condition leaves us with very few – if any -- options for getting health insurance without an obliging employer or spouse (or other access to a group plan).
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In the Waiting Room, A Dance

In the Waiting Room, A Dance

Often what motivates me to care for my diabetes is the thought of living a long and able life so that I might enjoy my children’s adulthoods, not tethered to dialysis. I hold on to a belief that I have a great deal of control over my outcome. I have also believed – and I suddenly realize that this is folly – that, by having one chronic illness, I am somehow exempt from more threats to my well-being and longevity. My anemia is a sign, however, that my body is much more complex than a basic system, with inputs and outputs, I can understand and control.
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Swimming Through a Diabetes Diagnosis

Swimming Through a Diabetes Diagnosis

I had only managed to swim a mile once in my pool and my health seemed off that summer. I still pushed myself, despite the nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right. I completed the swim, but I did so slowly. It felt like I was swimming in oatmeal. At age 48 I wondered, was I getting too old for such exertion?
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