One of the surprising things I've found out about myself while interviewing people for Diabetes By The Numbers is that I'm one of the worst pronouncers of names I've ever met.
That's horrible, especially when I have a guest as special as Renza Scibilia. Renza is a diabetes superhero worldwide, with her blog, her work for a large diabetes organization in Australia, and her presence at the forefront of the most important issues facing all of us.
After Renza gets me straightened out on the correct pronunciation of her last name, we talk about the upcoming ATTD conference in Berlin, the importance of #LanguageMatters, and how critical the Spare a Rose campaign is.
Which is timely, because this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers is part of Diabetes Podcast Week, February 10 through 16. All of the podcasters and video bloggers are throwing their efforts this week behind the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign through the International Diabetes Federation's Life for a Child program.
As I've mentioned before, the cost of one rose (about $5 USD) saves the life of a child for one month. The cost of a dozen roses gains a child in another part of the world an entire year to play, go to school, and be with their families. Who doesn’t love that?
There are children all over the world who are depending on us. So please, take time right now. Go to LFACInternational.org/SpareaRose and make your life-sustaining donation. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Renza!
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Renza Scibilia is a gifted writer, and you can read her at:
Diabetogenic.wordpress.com
Be part of the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign this year by making your donation at:
LFACInternational.org/SpareARose
Mike Lawson is easy to talk to. He's been on the podcast before, in one of his many roles with Diabetes Hands Foundation. Today, Mike still has a number of roles... in addition to a full time job, he's a board member at T1 International.
And he's written a book!
Open Up Your Bag is a delightful children's book that helps familiarize young ones to the everyday tasks that come with living with diabetes. As Mike mentions, it also helps facilitate discussion about life with diabetes between kids and their parents.
If you're a fan of Mike's artwork at DHF and elsewhere, you'll notice it in the new book because he's the illustrator too!
In our conversation, we talk about the book, about Mike's creativity, and his lifelong love of children's literature. It's a terrific chat, and a terrific book.
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Mike Lawson's new book, Open Up Your Bag, is available via Amazon:
Get your copy of Open Up Your Bag
You can find coloring and activity sheets for Open Up Your Bag by going to Diabetes Doodles:
diabetesdoodles.com
Diabetes By The Numbers is BACK!
Thanks to everyone who waited patiently while I worked to retool the podcast. It took a while, but I am happy to be sharing another interesting conversation with you.
Today I'm speaking with Grainne Flynn, who is a passionate writer and diabetes advocate living in the Republic of Ireland. I've been reading her blog, Blood Sugar Trampoline, for some time, and I got to meet her in person last October at the joint Diabetes Sisters/Diabetes UnConference get-together in Alexandria, Virginia.
Did you ever strike up a conversation with someone and instantly feel comfortable? That's how you'll feel hearing Grainne. We talk about Blood Sugar Trampoline, the amazing Thriveabetes conference just completed... and she even shares her three must-visit places on the Emerald Isle. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
And thank you so much for listening. Again.
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Grainne Flynn writes about her life with diabetes at her personal blog, Blood Sugar Trampoline:
BloodSugarTrampoline.com
Grainne is a co-founder of the diabetes empowerment organization Thriveabetes, which works to foster education and connections in the Republic of Ireland, and hosts a yearly conference:
Thriveabetes.ie
Clinical trials come and go, and often they may seem like the same thing is just being tested over and over again. But it’s really not like that at all.
Case in point is the clinical trial beginning at the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology. Jess Robic and Jennifer Pinnata from the CDT are here to talk about this trial specifically, and to answer a few questions surrounding clinical trial participation in general.
This trial is specifically recruiting MDI (multiple daily injections) users, but it’s using algorithms developed for use in artificial pancreas systems. There are many super interesting aspects to this study.
The best part is all the diabetes stuff you get as part of participation in the trial. It includes:
- Insulin for the length of the trial
- Use of an innovative insulin “smart” pen
- Use of a Dexcom G5 continuous glucose monitor
- Test strips for the length of the trial
- A stipend, dependent on the number of in-person study visits you complete before the end of your participation.
Seriously, if I was an MDI user, I would sign up for this trial yesterday.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A quick note: this interview was conducted two days before the unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12. If you’re wondering why we’re so cheery in the interview, and why we’re not even acknowledging anything about the racial discord of that weekend, or the fact that someone lost their life, it’s because it hadn’t happened yet.
In the aftermath of that sickening weekend, all of us decided to wait a bit before airing the episode. If you qualify, I hope you will consider signing up for this study… I believe it will help lead to something truly unique in insulin delivery for people living with diabetes.
Reference Material - Click below for more information
Jess and Jennifer talk about CDT's Recruitment Database... to join the pool of potential clinical trial participants, CLICK HERE.
To see the clinical trials currently recruiting and taking place at the University of Virginia, CLICK HERE.
Welcome back to Diabetes By The Numbers.
Today, I feature the second part of my conversation with Christel Marchand Aprigliano. In this episode, we talk about one of the hot button issues of the day-- insulin pricing.
We cover a recent meeting between insulin makers and diabetes advocates, and developments on pricing announced by two of those insulin makers since that meeting took place in November of 2016.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference Material - Click below for more information
Christel Marchand Aprigliano writes about diabetes at:
ThePerfectD.com
You can connect with Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, or DPAC, at:
DiabetesPAC.org
© Stephen Shaul
Welcome to year 2 of Diabetes By The Numbers!
Daniele Hargenrader is one of the hardest working people I know of in the diabetes community. Both on a personal and a professional level.
She's a nutritionist, a health coach, a certified professional trainer. She's an international speaker, and an author too.
Today, Daniele talks about the things that motivated her to lose weight, get fit, and rock her diabetes. She talks about why nutrition is focus number 1. She talks about her book, Unleash Your Inner Diabetes Dominator: How to Use Your Powers of Choice, Self-Love, and Community to Completely Change Your Relationship With Diabetes for the Better. And she talks about her latest project.
Seriously, I don't know how she does it all, but she does it well.
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Daniele Hargenrader writes blog posts, hosts video chats, teaches online courses, and more through her website:
diabetesdominator.com
Daniele mentions using MyFitnessPal to log her food choices:
myfitnesspal.com
Want to pick up Daniele's fantastic book? You can find it on Amazon right here:
Daniele's Book-- Unleash Your Inner Diabetes Dominator
After a brief hiatus, the Diabetes By The Numbers podcast is back.
Today's podcast features Dr. Medha Munshi, Director of Joslin Diabetes Center's Geriatric Diabetes Program. She's co-authored a recent (and first ever) American Diabetes Association position statement designed to help homes and other skilled nursing facilities care better and more appropriately for senior patients with diabetes.
Dr. Munshi shares key points on the position statement, and great insights on caring for older people with diabetes.
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Dr. Medha Munshi is Director of the Joslin Geriatric Diabetes Program and an an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. She's also a staff geriatrician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
CLICK HERE to find out more about Joslin's Geriatric Diabetes Program.
To read the American Diabetes Association position statement co-authored by Dr. Munshi, CLICK HERE
You read that right... it's Diabetes Podcast Week!
Brainchild of Stacey Simms at the Diabetes Connections podcast, this is a week where a dozen diabetes podcasters will be uploading new episodes and helping to raise money for the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign. Listen to the beginning and the end of this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers for more information on the Spare a Rose, Save a Child initiative and what an amazing difference it makes for children living in developing countries throughout the world.
Insulin should not be a luxury.
This episode of Diabetes By The Numbers features the Superwoman known to her friends and compatriots as Merle Gleeson. In our opening round question, she describes herself as vivacious, committed, and reliable. She's that and a lot more.
Merle has been living with Type 1 Diabetes for over 50 years. Around nineteen years ago, her and a few friends started something called the Type 1 Diabetes Lounge, which holds regular meetings, fundraisers, educational sessions, parties, and more in the Chicago area. It's quite an operation, and if you're looking to kick start a local diabetes meetup or amp up the meetup you already have, you can do a lot worse than listening to Merle.
One other thing, though we don't talk about it during the podcast: Merle Gleeson was one of our first Champion Athletes With Diabetes medal winners. She does it all, and I chronicled some of that back in March of 2014. It's worth a read.
Here then is my conversation with Merle Gleeson, and a special message about Spare a Rose, Save a Child.
Help save the life of a child living with diabetes in a developing country by donating to the Spare a Rose, Save a Child campaign today:
http://www.p4dc.com/spare-a-rose/give/
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Merle Gleeson is founder and CEO of the Type 1 Diabetes Lounge in the Chicago area:
type1diabeteslounge.com/
More about Diabetes Podcast Week can be found at Stacey Simms' blog:
staceysimms.com
Spare a Rose, Save a Child is an initiative of the non-profit Partners for Diabetes Change. To find out more about Spare a Rose, Save a Child:
www.p4dc.com
Welcome to Episode Ten of Diabetes By the Numbers.
Today we have our first returning guest. It's Molly McElwee Malloy, Head of Patient Engagement at TypeZero Technologies in Charlottesville, Virginia. TypeZero is in the news this week for two big undertakings.
First, there's a 12.7 million dollar artificial pancreas study funded by the National Institutes of Health. It will begin very soon. In this study, they'll be testing TypeZero's inControl platform, using a spiffy new device.
This study will include as many as 240 participants! The studies will take place in nine locations... six in the USA, and three in Europe. To find out more about participating in this important research, scroll to the bottom of this post.
The second big piece of news is this: <strong>Type Zero is entering into a partnership with CellNovo</strong>, which makes an integrated diabetes management system in Europe. They've gotten a lot of good press here in the USA, and we talk about that and what this partnership means for TypeZero. Have a listen.
Reference Material - Click for more information on this topic
Find out more about the inControl diabetes management platform by going to the Type Zero Technologies website:
TypeZero.com
Clinical trial participants are necessary and appreciated! Though the study will take place in several locations, the overall management of the trial will be handled through the Jaeb Center for Health Research. To contact the Jaeb Center to volunteer to participate, Send an e-mail to:
Info@jaeb.org
To find out more about artificial pancreas testing through the University of Virginia's Center for Diabetes Technology, send an e-mail to:
artificialpancreas@virginia.edu
CellNovo makes a diabetes management system that includes a patch pump, an activity monitor, a hand held cell-enabled handset, and a continuous glucose monitor. Data can be shared via the cloud. To learn more about CellNovo, go to:
CellNovo.com
Follow Molly McElwee Malloy on Twitter:
@MollyMacT1D
Mary Beth Withers Wyss has been living with Diabetic Macular Edema for some time. She went through a two year clinical trial of an experimental drug designed to treat DME. She talks about her experience, about why clinical trials are perfect for a patient like her, and even why she is still a Cleveland Browns fan (to put the timeline into perspective, this was recorded before the Cincinnati Bengals had lost a game this season, and now they have lost two).
Mary Beth frankly talks about the difficulties of living with DME, and living with the fact that the best treatment available to her involves injections directly into her eyes.
Want to know about Diabetic Macular Edema from someone who's been there? Want to know about clinical trials designed to find a viable treatment for DME? Then you'll want to listen to this podcast.
©Stephen Shaul
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Learn more about diabetic macular edema (and other diabetes-related eye diseases), and find out more about the center where Mary Beth was treated during her clinical trial:
National Eye Institute - Facts About Diabetic Eye Disease
Ohio State University department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science
I'm so grateful to my endocrinologist, Dr. Vivian Pao, for taking the time to speak with me on the complex relationship between a diabetes patient and their endocrinologist.
This is the third and final part of our conversation, and in this episode, we talk about the importance of being honest with your endo, and what keeps her up at night.
©Stephen Shaul
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Learn more about endocrinologists, read research and updates, and even search for an endocrinologist by clicking on one of the links below:
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Endocrine Society
Pediatric Endocrine Society
Some people only get to spend about 40 minutes each year with their endo... I got to spend close to an hour with her last week. The conversation was so good that I've broken it up into four parts.
In this episode, we talked about how an endocrinologist considers outside factors, including depression, in treating a Person With Diabetes. Also, she talks about how she stays up on the latest and greatest in her profession, including a reference to Dr. Oz and some "raspberry, ketone thingamajiggy".
This is part two of our conversation. We get into a lot more in part three. I hope you'll join us for that. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this installment.
©Stephen Shaul
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Learn more about endocrinologists, read research and updates, and even search for an endocrinologist by clicking on one of the links below:
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Endocrine Society
Pediatric Endocrine Society
“Who is this Dr. Vivian Pao anyway?”, you might ask.
She’s my endocrinologist.
Some people only get to spend about 40 minutes each year with their endo... I got to spend close to an hour last week.
Together, we talked about what exactly an endocrinologist specializes in (in addition to diabetes). We also covered what she’s looking for from a diabetes patient at the quarterly appointment (and more importantly, why); and why she made me wait before allowing me to begin on my insulin pump. Hopefully, you’ll begin to understand why I believe in her so much. She is a huge, important part of my diabetes care team, and I value her input very much.
The best part is, this is just the first part of our conversation. We get into a lot more later on. But you’ll have to wait for that. Sorry. Our talk was too good to just cut out questions for the sake of brevity.
Part 2 is coming in the next installment. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this view from both sides of the desk.
Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic
Learn more about endocrinologists, read research and updates, and even search for an endocrinologist by clicking on one of the links below:
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists
Endocrine Society
Pediatric Endocrine Society
Diabetes By The Numbers is back, this time with the CEO of Diabetes Sisters, Anna Norton. Her passion and enthusiasm for leading this groundbreaking organization for women living with diabetes practically knocked me over from 700 miles away.
Today, Anna and I talk about the mission of Diabetes Sisters, the various programs that the organization provides to educate, support, and empower women, and what’s on the agenda for 2016. If you don’t know much (or anything) about Diabetes Sisters, or if you’re just looking to reconnect, this podcast is for you.
Everyone living with and affected by diabetes is excited about artificial pancreas research and the various innovations spawned by this remarkable technology.
In this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers, I'm joined by Molly McElwee Malloy, who has just recently stepped into her latest role as Head of Patient Engagement at Type Zero Technologies. She is an RN and Certified Diabetes Educator who has been living with diabetes since 1998. She knows the relationship of diabetes, analytics, and technology like almost no other person I know.
Type Zero is the continuation of artificial pancreas research started at the University of Virginia at their Center for Diabetes Technology. In our conversation, we talk about the birth of Type Zero, its InControl platfrom including InControl Advice and InControl Cloud, and the timeline for development, testing, and submission for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Type Zero Technologies:
typezero.com
Interested in participating in a Type Zero clinical trial? Send an e-mail to:
artificialpancreas@virginia.edu
©Stephen Shaul