DIABETES

Diabetes mellitus (DM), commonly referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which there are high blood sugarlevels over a prolonged period. Symptoms of high blood sugar include frequent urination, increased thirst, and increased hunger. If left untreated, diabetes can cause many complications. Acute complications include diabetic ketoacidosis and nonketotic hyperosmolar coma. Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic kidney failure, foot ulcers, and damage to the eyes.

General Diabetes Resources

A Sweet Life – Started in 2009 by married couple Mike and Jessica Apple, both diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as adults, A Sweet Life shares recipes and tips about living and eating healthy with diabetes. A wide range of professional journalists and bloggers, including Catherine Price and Katie Bacon, contribute to A Sweet Life. Posts also cover the latest diabetes research, treatments, and reports on financial and technological issues important to people with diabetes.

Diabetes Daily Blog – Featuring over 100 writers, Diabetes Daily provides information about type 1 and type 2 diabetes, healthy recipes, workout routines, treatment and technology information and reviews, weight loss tips, and general diabetes management strategies. A fantastic resource for both patients and family members, Diabetes Daily also includes a large diabetes forum. Diabetes Daily was founded in 2005 and is one of the most frequently visited diabetes blogs.

DiabetesMine – Created in 2005 by and for people impacted by diabetes, DiabetesMine provides a mix of diabetes news, views, reviews, guest posts, interviews, videos, cartoons, and Q&A in the form of “a diabetes newspaper with a personal twist.” DiabetesMine aims to improve life and outcomes for people with diabetes by promoting innovation in diabetes care and tools, such as its annual Innovation Summit and D-Data Exchange.

Diabetes Self-Management – A magazine first printed in 1983 and now in digital form, Diabetes Self-Management is a website and blog that offers practical advice for people with diabetes. Diabetes Self-Management includes countless articles about nutrition, exercise, medications, technology, and emotional health as well as comprehensive background information about diabetes and various support resources.

DiabetesSisters – A Healthline-named Top Diabetes Blog of 2014, DiabetesSisters offers a range of education and support services to help women of all ages with all types of diabetes live healthier lives. Since its inception in January 2008, DiabetesSisters’ passionate founder Brandy Barnes has made it her mission to engage, unite, and empower women with diabetes to reach their full potential.

dLife – Focused on empowering people with diabetes to take care of themselves in the best way possible, dLife provides tools for self-management to keep people actively engaged in their own care. The dLife philosophy calls for the whole person to be treated, not just a person’s blood sugar, and this site discusses a variety of topics ranging from childhood diabetes to battling pizza cravings to information about oral medications. dLife was founded by Howard Steinberg way back in 2004 and has since touched the lives of millions of people with diabetes.

Integrated Diabetes Services – This website was founded by certified diabetes educator Gary Scheiner MS, CDE, in 1995 to provide patients and family members with accessible and expert advice in order to better “navigate the complexities of living with and managing” diabetes. In addition to online links, resources, and news, Integrated Diabetes Services LLC provides blood sugar regulation and self-management training services for children and adults in their Philadelphia office. They also offer remote diabetes coaching services via phone and internet. 

Glu – Glu is a type 1 diabetes online community that aims to connect users with over 13,000 other people touched by type 1 diabetes, accelerate type 1 research, and provide educational content. Glu is part of T1D Exchange, a nonprofit organization designed to accelerate research on the path to cures for type 1 diabetes.

Testing Time	Normal	Diabetes
Fasting blood sugar	80-99 mg/dl	126 mg/dl and above
Random blood sugar	80-139 mg/dl	200 mg/dl and above
2 hour glucose tolerance test	80-139 mg/dl	200 mg/dl and above

The Type 2 Experience – The Type 2 Experience (TT2E) is a “collaboration blog” created by various people with type 2 diabetes. Developed after recognizing the need to make the type 2 presence in the diabetes online community more visible, TT2E is a space for people with type 2 diabetes to share personal stories and ideas, make connections, and work out many misconceptions. TT2E was founded in 2013. 

Blogs for Parents and Family Members of Children with Diabetes

Diabetes Dad – Tom Karlya, the father of two children with diabetes and one without, is the voice of Diabetes Dad. When his daughter was diagnosed in 1992, Karlya made a promise to “not stop until we found a cure for her and millions more like her.” He started Diabetes Dad in 2012 to help educate other parents and members of the diabetes community about diabetes management tools and healthy living.

D-Mom – Written by the mother of “Q,” a young girl with type 1 diabetes, D-Mom is a blog about “parenting children with type 1 diabetes.” D-Mom includes a wide range of resources about smart snack foods for children with diabetes, tips for dining out, information about diabetes camps, book reviews, videos, and links to helpful organizations and social networks. D-Mom was founded in 2008.

Your Diabetes May Vary – Your Diabetes May Vary (YDMV) is “the miscellaneous ramblings of a family with two kids with Type 1 Diabetes.” Founded in 2007 by Bennet Dunlap, the father of two kids with type 1 diabetes, this personal blog aims to provide people with diabetes news and help connect and engage people within the diabetes community. 

Diabetes Forums

Children with Diabetes – Founded in 1995, Children with Diabetes is a forum where parents and other family members of children with diabetes can connect and share information and tips about schools and daycare, sports and athletics, nutrition and food, pregnancy, and other information related to raising a child with diabetes. It was started by type 1 parent Mr. Jeff Hitchcock after his daughter Marissa was diagnosed with diabetes. CWD also holds an amazing conference, Friends for Life, every July in Orlando.

Diabetes Daily Forum – Diabetes Daily contains a collection of forums where patients, family members, and others in the diabetes community can post personal stories, ask questions, share news, and much more. Topics range from exercise and diet to clinical trial recruitment to how diabetes is portrayed in the arts and modern culture. Diabetes Daily Forum, along with the DiabetesDaily blog, was founded in 2005.

Diabetic Connect - Diabetic Connect is an online diabetes community that provides people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes with treatment information, recipes, news, several discussion forums, videos, and more. The website also includes an “Ask an Expert” feature in which users can post questions to be answered by health care professionals. 

TuDiabetes – A program of the Diabetes Hands Foundation, TuDiabetes is a “community of people touched by diabetes.” Patients and family members share personal stories, post helpful resources, and ask questions about diabetes. They also have a Spanish version of the forum called EsTuDiabetes. TuDiabetes was founded in 2007.