The Corner Booth

 Most of us with diabetes live in fear of the dreaded diabetes complications that could someday strike — especially those of us diagnosed as kids or teens who've had many years for possible complications to develop. I personally was diagnosed with type 1 more than three decades ago in 1984 as a young child, and for as long as I can remember, I've been hearing about the stats telling us that we PWDs are at high risk of developing eye disease. According to the  National Eye Institute , almost 8 million PWDs are living with some version of diabetes-related retinopathy or  macular edema . Those stats hit home recently when my eye specialist told me that my own long-diagnosed retinopathy had progressed to the point of requiring laser treatment and possible injections into the eye.  Yep, the time had come for my first-ever official eye treatment for retinopathy. Facing my worst diabetes fears Of course, hearing that I needed laser treatment and possibly eye injec

The American Diabetes Association's annual conference, known as the ADA Scientific Sessions , is always the biggest diabetes event of the year, and 2021 marked the second time this 5-day congress was held completely online because of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. When held in person, the conference normally convenes roughly 16,000 physicians, researchers, and diabetes industry experts from across the globe. This 81st annual event drew 11,600 people from 119 countries between June 25 and 29 — slightly lower than the 12,527 registered attendees for the 2020 virtual event. For both, the event organizers expected more people to tune in afterward, thanks to the recorded online sessions being made available for up to 3 months following the conference. Despite its virtual nature, this year's conference included nearly 200 presentations with more than 900 presenters on any range of topics. And to top it off, there were roughly 1,100 research posters delving into the latest