Meters

For 2,000 years diabetes has been recognized as a devastating and deadly disease. In the first century A.D. a Greek, Aretaeus, described the destructive nature of the affliction which he named "diabetes" from the Greek word for "siphon." Eugene J. Leopold in his text Aretaeus the Cappodacian describes Aretaeus' diagnosis: "...For fluids do not remain in the body, but use the body only as a channel through which they may flow out. Life lasts only for a time, but not very long. For they urinate with pain and painful is the emaciation. For no essential part of the drink is absorbed by the body while great masses of the flesh are liquefied into urine."

10 comments - Dec 17, 2008 -

The first time I presented medical research findings, I was not yet a physician. The year was about 1975. I was in my early forties and a mid-career engineer. The forum was a scientific symposium on diabetes. At the time, I felt that I had discovered the holy grail of diabetes care and was eager to share what I had learned.

17 comments - Dec 8, 2008 -

My daughter Lauren was five days shy of her twelfth birthday when she was diagnosed with type 1. We were blessed with a child who could and did take the lead in her recovery and care. She never had any "teen diabetic rebellion" and never adopted a "why me?" mentality. Her health has been great, and her last A1c was 6.7%. With all the hormonal changes that can affect a teenage girl's body and thus change her insulin requirements, Lauren has always stayed on top of her care and never lost her fantastic personality.

22 comments - Dec 2, 2008 -

The OneTouch® UltraMini® Meter by LifeScan, Inc., is now available in Purple Twilight and Blue Comet.

3 comments - Sep 18, 2008 -

Diabetes educator Cindy Young used case studies to illustrate the many little things that can have a big effect on your blood glucose-or just on the readings you get with your meter.

7 comments - Sep 11, 2008 -

The members of the AADE are an impassioned group who genuinely want to make a difference in their patients' lives. It was an ideal place for me to be, especially because I had a concern of my own: Why am I getting red dots every time I inject? Every educator I asked went right to work examining the problem and investigating my behavior, truly wanting to help. Unfortunately, they are dwindling in number each year, while patients are increasing in number, making their work ever more demanding.

4 comments - Aug 20, 2008 -

Diabetes educator Mary M. Austin reported that many people are paying for blood glucose test strips even though their insurance plans would cover them. "There is a lot of misunderstanding," she said. For example, a client of Austin's got a free meter at a health fair. He then paid for strips on his own for six months, until he found out that his insurance plan would cover them if he got a prescription for the strips from his healthcare provider.

3 comments - Aug 20, 2008 -

I’ve always been a pretty good traveler. I simply checked the weather at my destination and packed accordingly. Easy. Then I learned that I had diabetes, and suddenly even weekend trips required an intense amount of additional preparation.

2 comments - Jul 3, 2008 -

Let me start with my maternal grandmother, Helen. Helen had diabetes and lived to the age of 73. We all assumed that she didn’t do a good job with it, as we would often find candy wrappers under her bed. When it came to taking care of herself, Helen was my mother’s role model.

4 comments - May 15, 2008 -

The FDA has cleared the OneTouch UltraLink wireless meter as the only meter certified by Medtronic to wirelessly communicate with its diabetes management products in the United States. The meter uses Medtronic-certified wireless technology to transmit glucose readings directly to MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps and the Guardian® REAL-Time continuous glucose monitoring system. This makes bolus dosing more accurate and easier for patients compared to the manual entry of blood glucose readings.

7 comments - Apr 28, 2008 -