Featured

Although everyone has high and low blood sugars on occasion, some levels can be dangerous when you live with diabetes. Here are some of the common scenarios people with diabetes and their caregivers should know about. Severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Most lows are easily treated by the person with diabetes, but depending on the circumstances, assistance may be required. This could be as simple as having someone get fast acting glucose for you or as intensive as giving glucagon. A severe hypo is defined as one where the person requires assistance due to either mental or physical challenges related […]

We are so fortunate in the United States to have a variety of AID Systems to choose from. For many years, the options were very limited. Omnipod was founded in the year 2000 after a father of a boy with type 1 diabetes wanted a pump that was easier for his active child to wear.1 The first tubeless pump was brought to market in 2003. Now, the Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System is used by an estimated 425,000 active global customers.2 One of my colleagues from Cincinnati Children’s, Molly Williams, lives with T1D and has been wearing the Omnipod […]

Growing up with type 1 diabetes, I heard a lot from my healthcare team about the risks of getting pregnant. I was told that if I did not have an A1C less than 6%, there were many risks to the fetus and that I was more likely to have a miscarriage. When I talk to my diabetes peers who can get pregnant, they say they heard similar messaging. What was and remains unclear, however, was whether living with diabetes decreased your ability to conceive. While this topic hasn’t been widely addressed, many women I know have shared a common feeling—that […]

In December 2024, I took my first completely solo trip. I have always been weary of traveling alone. First, I’m a whopping 5-foot-1-inch-tall woman, which causes me to feel vulnerable. Secondly, I worry about having a low where I need someone else’s help. These have held me back from certain things and I decided I am in a place in my life where I needed to overcome this fear. Fear of hypoglycemia I have always been lucky (knock on wood) when it comes to challenging lows and had someone close by to assist or just sit with me to quell […]

The International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) recommends using automated insulin delivery (AID) systems as the standard of care. These systems have consistently been shown to help people with diabetes achieve their glucose goals. However, no system is perfect, and each has its own challenges. Here are some common issues that arise with diabetes technologies. The weakest link: the infusion set Getting insulin into the body adequately is still the crux of any AID system or insulin pump. Many things can go wrong, from scar tissue to adhesive issues, kinked cannulas to unidentifiable absorption issues. In the DERMIS […]

Now that many commercially available automated insulin delivery (AID) systems are available worldwide, is there still a desire for open-source AID (OS-AID) systems? The short answer is yes, but what does that entail? I interviewed Dr. Rayhan Lal, a dual-trained adult and pediatric endocrinologist at Stanford University and a PWD, to understand what is available. Some background A couple of months ago, Dr. Lal suggested I start a GLP1 agonist to help reduce my lifetime renal and cardiovascular risks and slow down carb absorption. However, he was worried about starting one while using the iLet due to the inability to […]