Posts

The main function of the kidneys is to filter the blood’s metabolic end-products and direct everything your body doesn’t need toward the bladder. Essential elements such as glucose are filtered during the first step of the filtration process. So, when blood sugar levels are below 10–12 mmol/L, the kidneys will re-absorb all the glucose before … Read more Could SGLT2 Inhibitors Be Part of a New Treatment for Type 1 Diabetes?

Do you ever notice that your blood sugar is higher or lower than usual, and you don’t know why? Here’s a short list of potential explanations compiled by the BETTER team. Lower than usual blood sugar Meal bolus administered twice. If you use an insulin pump, you can view your history of administered boluses. If … Read more “What Is Going on With My Blood Sugar?”

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a form of type 1 diabetes (T1D) that also produces antibodies that destroy the pancreas’s insulin-producing beta cells. It is commonly misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes (T2D) since its onset is often after the age of 30 and happens more progressively than in typical T1D cases. Because of … Read more Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA): Impacts of a Diagnosis on Daily Living

In the United States, the quality of care you get strongly depends on whether you have insurance or not. Therefore, having a low socio-economic status, and often little or no insurance coverage, can affect your quality of life.  African Americans are one of the population groups that are the most affected by poverty. In 2018, … Read more Type 1 Diabetes Complications on the Rise for African-American Children

Life is full of stressful situations, and their impacts on mental health are increasingly known and addressed. Managing type 1 diabetes (T1D) imposes a significant burden on daily life and involves a big learning curve for the majority of individuals newly diagnosed with T1D. It requires major life changes, and it puts those who live … Read more Taking Care of Your Mental Health When Living With Type 1 Diabetes

The effects of cannabis (or marijuana) use in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are still largely unknown. However, several research teams are starting to look into them.  Depending on its composition, cannabis can cause the following short-term effects to all users: alteration of perception and coordination, memory loss, cloudy decision-making, increased appetite, and delayed … Read more Cannabis and Type 1 Diabetes

When individuals think about diabetes they often picture overweight people who should limit their sugar consumption. However, many of these individuals do not realize that this is not the case for people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This misconception can be a result of the portrayals of individuals with T1D in the media, such … Read more Misrepresentation of Type 1 Diabetes in the Media

A lot of research is being done in the diabetes field to find how to best treat type 1 diabetes (T1D), and perhaps even how to prevent and cure it. Some researchers believe that the causes first need to be identified. Yet, exactly what triggers the onset of T1D is still unclear, and there are … Read more What Are the Possible Causes of Type 1 Diabetes?

When you don’t live with type 1 diabetes (T1D), skipping a meal when you’re sick is generally safe. However, if you’re ill and living with T1D, skipping a meal or vomiting after a meal leads to a high risk of hypoglycemia. What is glucagon? Glucagon is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas’s alpha … Read more Using Glucagon to Prevent Hypoglycemia When You’re Ill

Managing type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a challenge 24/7. Nighttime hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia can be symptomless and go undetected, which often makes it even more complex. This is why many parents who have children with T1D regularly wake up in the middle of the night to check on their children’s blood sugar levels. A US research team … Read more How Does Type 1 Diabetes Impact the Sleep of Children with T1D and Their Parents?