Information and opinions on Diabetes from Dr. Garren Woodby 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/30001 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/28701/association Fri, 23 May 2008 14:07:43 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby   As I participate on various blog sites I find writers who are disappointed with the American Diabetes Association. (I am not a member). This disappointment ranges from a desire for slight changes in ADA recommendations to outright distrust of and loathing for the organization.   To anyone falling in this range of opinions, I offer a challenge.   I come at this from the national healthcare viewpoint where for two decades I... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/28701/association http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25917/reply Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:28:57 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby   Can you help please?    I would like for as many people as possible to reply to this message and tell how you felt when you first learned that you (or your loved one) had diabetes. Also, would you share about what thing(s) helped you the most to come to terms with it, and to succeed?   I'm working on a project to for newly diagnosed people and I could really use your help. This site has a section with advice just... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25917/reply http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25673/abcs-diabetes Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:27:40 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby   My goal is to make living with diabetes more simple. For three of the major health issues with diabetes, it's as simple as A B C.   A is for A1C. This is the blood test that can tell how well, on average, your blood glucose control has been over the last 3-4 months. The American Diabetes Association recommends** that the A1C be below 7%.   B is for Blood Pressure. Keeping your blood pressure controlled is very important,... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25673/abcs-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25076/sugar-150-points Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:09:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby Sorry for the teaser, but this is so important.Twice recently I've worked with patients who said their glucometer was reading 100-150 points higher than it should. In both cases the patient had already compared their glucometer to another one before they came to see me. Can you guess what the problem was? In these cases the person had left the cap off their test strip bottle. Once the test strips and code chips were replaced the meters... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25076/sugar-150-points http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25031/true-blood-sugar Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:36:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby You have surely seen the television commercials with Wilford Brimley telling you to "check your sugar and check it often". For many people with type 2 diabetes I think the advice implied is perhaps a little excessive. (I believe Mr. Brimley means well, but remember he is speaking for a company that sells testing supplies). For those that hate testing or simply can't afford to test a lot, I'm afraid the advice could lead some to... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/25031/true-blood-sugar http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24360/byetta-exenatide Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:55:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby Many of today's new medications still come from nature. Byetta is an example of this. As I understand the story, a man was studying the Gila Monster because it survives despite eating only a few meals a year! Chemicals in the Gila Monsters' saliva were studied relating to this phenomenal ability...and the "recipe" for Byetta was developed from this research.   Gila Monster   Byetta is an injectable... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24360/byetta-exenatide http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24359/low-low-sugar Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:43:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby One major risk associated with improving your diabetes is that you can actually cause your blood sugar (glucose) to fall too low. While we generally think of elevated blood sugar concentrations causing damage over time, a low blood sugar is dangerous now. Glucose is a fuel that helps run the brain, so if our sugar drops too low, we can feel dizzy, faint, or much worse. This is called hypoglycemia. (hypO = Low)  The best solution for... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24359/low-low-sugar http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24274/plate-diabetes Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:02:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby The American Association of Diabetes Educators has developed the AADE7. It's an outline for bringing about improvement in one's diabetes control. Through my free newsletter we have already covered some of these topics and I will continue to reinforce these vital areas. As I've mentioned before, diabetes is a self-managed disease. Even with great doctors and diabetes educators, the day to day decision making rests on your... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24274/plate-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24003/overcoming Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:01:00 -0400 Dr. Garren Woodby Learning how to deal with diabetes can be overwhelming, frustrating, and discouraging. As a Certified Diabetes Educator and Doctor of Pharmacy with years of experience and several thousand patient encounters in diabetes education and management, I too understand the frustration. It's discouraging when blood sugar control does not improve in a meaningful way despite efforts on the part of the patient, physician, and educator.  After many... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/30001/24003/overcoming