The late Steve Jobs didn’t like to waste energy on what he considered to be trivial things. Every day he wore the same black turtleneck, blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. Albert Einstein wore a signature grey suit to work. What can we take away from this? That obsessing…
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The bear says I’m the luckiest unlucky person he knows. If there’s a virus going around I’m always certain to get it. I spent five weeks in bed with covid-19 before most people even knew what it was. Out of all the illnesses I’ve tried, diabetic ketoacidosis is by far…
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We first got insulin in 1921. Before that type 1 diabetes was pretty much a death sentence within six months. It’s an old disease. The earliest descriptions exist on Egyptian papyrus from 1500 BC. In 600 BC Hindu physician Sushruta wrote about a disease of honey urine, which was diagnosed by tasting the urine or…
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The start of diabetes is rough. They send you home from the hospital with insulin pens and a crash course in carb counting. Congratulations, now you can kill yourself with this very potent hormone. It’s terrifying. Consulting Dr. Google, you learn about diabetic complications. Dead in bed syndrome…
The other night I had dinner at my friend’s house who’s a doctor. Present were many other doctors. In fact, I was the only non-doctor at the table. Doctors often marry doctors, and they tend to socialize with other doctors. I spent a couple of years in med school, and I could spot this trend…
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My mood is the worst when my blood sugar swings. The vicious circle to be avoided is to go low, overtreat the hypo, and be forced to inject insulin again to get your blood sugar into range. This is best done by treating hypoglycemia as a medical emergency, and not an opportunity to eat the…
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This documentary series about diabetic complications is difficult to watch, but I think it is important to raise awareness. Brian suffers from end-stage renal disease and might lose his right foot. His story is heartbreaking. Yet it is the story of so many diabetics. Diabetes is the leading cause of amputation, preventable blindness and…
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When you’re eating a very low carbohydrate diet you need to dose insulin for protein. There are however a couple of occasions where you should be careful with this. One is when you exercise after meals. I like to go for walks after lunch on most days. This means that I don’t take any insulin…
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My favorite character in the apocalyptic sci-fi novel Lucifer’s Hammer is Dan Forrester. He is an astrophysicist at JPL, and when a comet hits the earth he has the presence of mind to pack books into plastic bags in his septic tank so that we can one day rebuild civilization. Dan is also diabetic and the rules of the universe don’t favor diabetics…
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My first endocrinologist had a typewriter on her desk that was older than me. I was looking for a doctor that was up to date on continuous glucose monitors and second-generation insulins. My guess was that this wasn’t it. She wrote down a number on a piece of paper…
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