The Corner Booth

What is preventing a cure for type 1 diabetes? We asked, and they answered. And no, there isn't a conspiracy by those power brokers with Pharma, FDA, and the diabetes research community. For as long as there has been research to cure diabetes, there have been people who believe that a cure will never happen because treating this disease is simply far too profitable. Those who believe in this so-called "conspiracy theory " are convinced that pharma companies have a vested interest in keeping diabetes around as long as possible because peddling their treatments is far bigger business than a cure could ever be. We all know that diabetes is a multi-billion dollar industry, including sales of insulin, oral agents, and injectibles like Victoza, and medical devices such as insulin pumps, glucose monitors and their pricey test strips, and new continuous glucose monitors. Type 2 diabetes is increasing exponentially, but even type 1 diabetes is growing at a dramatic rate, whic...

Not long ago, my dad and I got together for a game of golf. We had a swell time, and of course chatted about family and our beloved black lab, Riley.   Particularly, the Riley Dog's love for squirrels and her mission to capture them. Somehow, this golfcourse conversation derailed into the pros and cons of having dogs out there on the golf course and how it'd be GREAT to teach them to carry our clubs... Or drive the cart for us. And so, this came about... Thanks to the very talented cartoonist Jerry King (who also does some great drawing over at DiabetesMine !), since he took some of his own time to draw up my imaginary golf course scenario for a favor... Much appreciated!!

 Fingers gripping the steering wheel, a dizziness setting in — with a knowledge that the cold sweats and soon-blurring vision are on the way. Whatever the reason for the plunging blood sugar, the reality in that moment is that you are going low and need to do something about it. To pull over. To check. To eat something. But as sometimes happens when floating in a hypoglycemic daze, you can't bring yourself to take action even though you know it's needed. The brain just isn't connecting and forcing you to pull that treatment trigger. I've been there. More than once. And they've been life-changing lessons that have influenced my driving habits. With National Drive Safely Week running the first week of October, this seemed like ideal timing to share some personal stories about the dangers of driving with diabetes. My two significant driving-while-low experiences both happened during the workday, when I managed to find myself behind the wheel while...