Diabetes Expert Beth McNamara shares Diabetes management news and commentary at MyDiabetesCentral.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/95461/diabetes-toetoe Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:40:00 -0500 Beth McNamara We've passed the mid-way point in National Diabetes Month, which calls for awareness and education of diabetes to the general public and fostering a sense of community for all who have diabetes.  Diabetes is affecting more and more people and their families and friends every year - to the tune of 23.6 million in the U.S. alone, hence this push for outreach and education are both necessary and noble.  I hope that this sense of unified... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/95461/diabetes-toetoe http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/94519/depression Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:19:00 -0500 Beth McNamara It's tough to be a teenager. The pressures of growing up and leaving behind the comforting routines of childhood tied to the unrelenting social pressures and unpredictable biological growth spurts can be hard to handle. Adolescents with diabetes have an extra-added layer of worries that can make teenagerhood all the more daunting ... from coping with erratic blood glucose levels to managing the threats of going high or low to feelings of being... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/94519/depression http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/93610/butting-teenager Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:56:00 -0500 Beth McNamara With my son just one month short of turning fourteen, I feel like I now have entered a phase of on-going battles. Our relationship is solid enough, yet it is not filled with tranquility but instead is prone to raging storms followed by short interludes of calm. My husband and I sense that we are just beginning to make our way down the long road of teenagedom, and this road is starting to look very long indeed.I suppose much of this tension is... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/93610/butting-teenager http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/92676/common-diagnosis Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:55:00 -0400 Beth McNamara Get a group of women together who have given birth - particularly when in the company of an expectant mother, and more likely than not the topic of labor and delivery stories will come up. The tougher and longer the labor, then the more impressed are the listeners of the teller. A similar exchange of stories occurs when a group of parents who all have a Type 1 child get together. Instead of labor and delivery, the topic is about the often... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/92676/common-diagnosis http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/91726/ways-schoolwork Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:29:00 -0400 Beth McNamara As a mother of a son with Type 1, I tend to focus on the big picture when it comes to managing his diabetes. By this I mean I want to ensure that he doesn't have a severe hyperglycemic low that renders him unconscious or, on the other end of the spectrum, doesn't overindulge on carbohydrates and end up in the ICU in DKA. Now that the school year is in full swing and charging towards the end of the first grading period, I find myself finally... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/91726/ways-schoolwork http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/90792/conquering-sugar Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:04:00 -0400 Beth McNamara Halloween. The time of ghosts, goblins, pirates, and nightmarish amounts of candy and other carbohydrate-laden treats, particularly if you have diabetes are a parent of a child with diabetes. So what are you supposed to do? Sideline your child and have him watch It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! a few dozen times on Halloween Night? Watching Linus, Sally and Snoopy is great once, but after that your child should enjoy Halloween as much as... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/90792/conquering-sugar http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/89908/association Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:18:00 -0400 Beth McNamara The Scarlet "D," a take off on Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, has been used to describe being unjustly labeled for society's perceived wrongdoing and can be applied to everything ranging from divorce to depression to diabetes. With healthcare reform commanding our attention and the headlines, many suggestions have been put on the table as to how to curb the upward spiraling cost of health insurance, whose yearly increases can be in the... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/89908/association http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/88983/seasonal-vaccine Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:47:00 -0400 Beth McNamara We're all in an uproar about H1N1, a.k.a the Swine Flu, a.k.a The Hinee Flu (spoken phonetically per my seven-year-old).Who wouldn't be? The very real parallels that have been drawn between this flu and the flu pandemic of 1918 are terrifying. But what about the plain old regular - or seasonal - flu? Should we be worried about that? I've been astounded by people who refuse to get the seasonal flu vaccine, yet want to be first in line for the... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/88983/seasonal-vaccine http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/88009/pump-emotional Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:22:00 -0400 Beth McNamara 'To pump or not?' ... it is a question fraught with possibilities, complexities and drawbacks. My son is scheduled to start a saline trial for a pump this Friday. Since nearly day one of his diagnosis, we've been asked whether or not he is on, or considering going on, the pump. As a mother of a son with Type 1, the pump question has caused very mixed emotions in me. First off, when I hear story after story of how insulin pump therapy has changed... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/88009/pump-emotional http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/87143/person-diabetes Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:29:00 -0400 Beth McNamara As a caregiver who is fairly new to the world of diabetes, it wasn't until recently that I realized that there was a debate over whether one was "a diabetic" or "a person with diabetes." Little did I know that each and every time I wrote a post or met someone at a conference or meeting who had diabetes and identified him as diabetic, I potentially was acting like the proverbial bull in the china shop, resembling a bit that stereotypical tacky... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/266176/87143/person-diabetes