Diabetes Links

These are some links that I use regularly or think are of interest. There are lots of other sites and some of the following have their own link pages.

Organizations and General Information

• Canadian Diabetes Association



• American Diabetes Association
  
  
• Diabetes and Hormone Centre of the Pacific: a great site with some self-tests to give a sense of how your control is going, information on HbA1c's, sexuality, menstrual cycles and menopause.
  


• Center for Disease Control - Diabetes Page
  


• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: information on on-going clinical trials and the DCCT.
  


• The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation


• The Islet Foundation : Canadian site focused on finding a cure for diabetes, with islet transplantation information.
  


• Joslin Diabetes Center


• Diabetes and a Vegetarian Diet


• From Ants to Analogues: An interesting history of diabetes and diabetes management.
  
  
• The Healing Handbook for Persons with Diabetes
  

Insulin pump information

• Insulin Pumper's Canada: pump information for people in Canada, including support group meetings across the country.
  


• Greater Vancouver diabetes support groups and info, and pump meetings monthly in Burnaby and Maple Ridge.
  


• Insulin Pumper's US: this page has lots of information, including FAQs and Howto's. The Insulin Pumper's mailing list is the best source of day-to-day information and support on living well with a pump that I have found. If you want to know more about pumps and the people (2500 plus on the list) who use them, check it out.

• John Neale's ideas on Diabetes Page: John has an excellent page with a wonderful Beginner's Guide to Diabetes, information on insulin pumps and pumping in Great Britain, and an interesting article about beef and pork insulin versus synthetic human insulin.




• MiniMed: insulin pumps, pump supplies, general diabetes information.



• AutoControl: Canadian supplier of diabetes supplies
  


• Disetronic: American page of another pump manufacturer. Currently, the Disetronic pump can not be sold due to some non-compliance issues and problems with the FDA and Health Canada related to reliability. For more info, go to this letter from Disetronic.

• : Insulin pump comparision

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• Diabetes Mall: products and lots of useful information, including meter, pump and other technology comparisons and info..
  

• Unique Insulin Pump Accessories
  

Kids and Diabetes

• Children with Diabetes Website: Excellent site, lots of information, product reviews, always current.
  

• KidsRPumping: a wonderful page that has information about kids and pumps, including many stories and testamonials. Can 2 year olds wear a pump? You bet!
  

Mailing lists

• DIABETIC Mailing List Home Page
  

• Insulin Pumper's Homepage
  

Possibilities

• Islet Transplantation in Seven Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Using a Glucocorticoid-free Immunosuppressive Regimen
. This is a landmark study, done at the University of Alberta, looking at islet cell transplantation. The results are so interesting that the New England Journal of Medicine has released them online, before they are actually published.
• There has been research done recently on inhaled insulin by several different pharmaceutical companies. There are some side effects, especially coughs, and people may still need to take at least one injection a day, but it is an interesting area. There are many review sites, so just do a search on inhaled insulin.



• One of the annoying things about having diabetes is the need to prick your finger several times a day (4-6 times is recommended) in order to test blood glucose levels. Several companies are working on "non-invasive", or at least less invasive, glucose testing systems. A few of these are:


• GlucoWatch: this device checks glucose levels through the skin every 20 minutes for a 12 hour period. It was approved for adults by the FDA in March and will hopefully available for sale in the U.S. by the end of this year. It is pricey - U.S.$400-$500 for the watch and $4-$5 for a sensor that lasts 12 hours. Hopefully it will be on its way to Canada soon so I can check it out.


• SpectRx is developing a continuous glucose sensor, a patch that is worn on the skin.


• Continuous Glucose Sensor from Minimed Technologies: takes blood sugars every 5 minutes for several days. I just tried it for 6 days and will post my results soon..

A few of my favorite things...

Some things I use that make my life easier:

• My Other CheckBook, a log book that tracks food, blood sugars, insulin and exercise
• Glucometer Dex, the best meter I have ever had. Excellent software, unfortunately PC compatible only.