Diabetic Athletes Get Some Attention

For those of you who have been following this blog for some time, you know how frustrated I am about the lack of understanding and support in the medical community for us diabetics who are physically active. No offense, but I am not talking about people who regularly walk to stay fit. Nothing wrong with that but I play basketball three times per week, and I play hard. I have friends who are professional athletes who are also Type I diabetics who play even harder than I do. We all feel that we are much more knowledgeable than our doctors, Endocrinologists, family doctors and super specialists usually have a good-to-great understanding of the etiology of the disease but no feel whatsoever for what it's like to have your blood sugar crash while you are competing and how to compensate for it while you are playing.

There has been significant work on developing an "artificial" pancreas which is actually a continuously measuring glucometer that is linked to an insulin pump. The problem with these wonderful gadgets is that they aren't yet workable for diabetic athletes, however, there is finally some work being done. Check out this link.

 

 

some work being done in trying to get there. Check out this link.