Tip of the Week:
Did you know that warm weather can affect blood sugar levels? The effect of outside activity on blood sugar numbers can be compounded in warm or hot weather. Playing or exercising outdoors in the summer may cause your blood sugar vary more than you expect. Remember to take into account the weather when planning your day or vacation this summer and pay special attention to how the heat affects your blood sugar levels.
Can you imagine a world in which children receive a vaccine to ward off type 1 diabetes? It may one day be a reality. Follow this link to learn about the research in this area: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31619202/ns/health-diabetes/
There is promising news that aggressive intervention can help stop type 2 diabetes symptoms in children. Check out this link to read more about the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes and what is being done to address the growing problem.
Tip of the Week:
Summer is here and so is vacation packing anxiety. In addition to making sure you include swimsuits, sunscreen, and snorkle, if someone in your family has type 1 diabetes, you have a lot of other supplies to pack. Here are some tips to ease your packing stress so you can concentrate on building sandcastles and snapping photos instead of stressing about where you packed the lancets. Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course.
Pack insulin and other diabetes supplies across multiple people’s carry-on luggage, so that if someone loses a bag, you don’t lose all of your supplies. Also, take copies of your prescriptions for critical supplies, and always bring with you the contact information for your physician(s), diabetes educator, clinic, and/or any other people who are involved in your diabetes care.
Everyone is talking about Sotomayor this week and whether or not she’s the right choice for the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice. All that aside, have you seen the news that she has Type 1 Diabetes? Is it relevant to her nomination? Many people are weighing in on it, and the discussion has Type 1 Diabetes (and the related healthcare advancements) in the news.
Tip of the Week:
The end of school is here yet again, and naturally, there are lots of sweets and treats. Here are some tips from a mother who has been through this quite a few times. Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course.
Volunteer to bring the beverages for the party and select sugar free or bring a sugar free drink for your child only. Or let your child pick “one sweet treat” with some extra insulin for the end of year party, and bring the other items home for snacks when you can work them into your plan. - Dana, mother of a son with diabetes
Tip of the Week:
There are lots of tricks to counting carbs, and the more you do it, the easier it is.
Here’s a carb counting tip from a grandmother who has learned a lot about carb counting in the last seven years. Find more like this in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course.
My grandson likes his grilled cheese and other sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Remember that doing that inpacts the carb count of the bread. We figured out that cutting the crusts off our bread reduced the carbs from 16 a slice to 10 a slice by weighing the bread slice before and after. - Dee, grandmother of a child with diabetes
Caring for a child with Type - 1 is a lot of work, every day, 7 days a week. When my wife is out of town on business, it is so challenging to take 100% of the responsibility for that care - particularly when it must be handled along with monitoring homework, taking kids to practices and all the “regular” parental duties. Flying solo for a while reminds me how lucky I am to be sharing this responsibility with my wife, and how stressful it is for her when I have to be away for work. I have immense admiration and awe for single parents who have to shoulder the full responsibility for caring for their Type - 1 kids.
- Jay (father of a pre-teen son with type 1 diabetes)
Everywhere I turn there are articles about the farmers markets in my area. This is probably as much a sign of the “eat local” movement as well as what appears to be a trend towards eating less processed whole foods. Either way, there is a rainbow of fruit coming available at this time of the year both at your grocery store and if you are lucky, from your local farmers. Not only is fruit healthy and full of nutrients, but it is often relatively low in carbs…something never far from your mind if you have diabetes. Check out some fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, watermelon, or look for your other favorites.
Need some assistance with counting carbs in your fresh fruit? Try Calorie King: http://www.calorieking.com/
Tip of the Week:
As the weather warms and kids start dreaming about long summer days, parents of children with diabetes know there are some challenges in their not too distant future. It isn’t easy keeping blood sugar numbers stabilized during long days at an amusement park or water park.
Check out these tips about amusement parks and find more like these in the HealthSims Type 1 Diabetes training course.
Long ago I learned that some parks have special passes for people with medical conditions. These passes make it possible for my daughter to not wait in line for a very long time. You should check with the park when you arrive to see if they have something similar. - Lisa, mother of a 15 year old with diabetes
Disney is great about helping people with type 1 diabetes. My nephew got a guest assistance pass so he didn’t have to wait in long lines in the sun with his insulin pump. They also had a very nice first aid station. - Pennie, aunt of a type 1 diabetic