A diagnosis of diabetes can be surprising, upsetting, and concerning. It immediately raises a whole series of questions, creates anxiety about the future, and a sense of uncertainty regarding the implications of this diagnosis. Many people also experience a wide range of emotions ranging from anger, shame, guilt, and frustration, highlighting an urgent need for reliable, evidence-based, and reassuring information and answers.
The blog series called Diabetes Basics is a 9-part series of blogs that provides this information in a readable, brief, and informative way. Starting with “What is Glucose?”, the series covers topics including ways to measure glucose, how to diagnose and suspect diabetes, how to lower glucose, and others. The 9-part series is a good starting place that is designed to orient people living with diabetes (and their families) to the basics behind diabetes, provide straightforward answers, and help them identify the questions to discuss with their health care providers.
The information is available as either individual blog articles or as one document that can either be read on the screen as one 9-part document or downloaded and printed in various formats for reading away from the screen.
Just click here to access the first article in the series; or click here to access the 9-part series as a downloadable PDF.
About the author
Hertzel Gerstein
Hertzel is an endocrinologist and professor at McMaster University who is in high demand as a speaker, advocate, and educator on diabetes-related topics. His research focuses on using large, international randomized trials to identify and test new ways of preventing type 2 diabetes, reducing serious health outcomes like strokes and death, and achieving type 2 diabetes remissions.
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Diabetes Basics Part 9: Diabetes Care is Preventive Care
I began this 9-part blog series on diabetes by describing how a healthy individual maintains normal glucose levels. I then focused on the basics of diabetes. To review, diabetes is a chronic disease that develops when the body can no longer maintain normal glucose levels. The high glucose levels can make you feel unwell. Over...
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Why Isn’t the Drug Doing What My Doctor Said It Would Do?
Drugs are prescribed to people with diabetes for a variety of reasons. These include the following: To keep blood sugar levels from rising too high To minimize the risk of low blood sugars or hypoglycemia To promote weight loss or prevent weight gain To reduce the risk of serious health problems in the future that...
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Feeling Your Best with Diabetes Education and Support
Living with diabetes means learning a lot, and you don’t have to figure it all out alone! Diabetes education and support are designed to empower you to live your healthiest life. What is Diabetes Education? Diabetes education, also known as diabetes self-management education (DSME), is a way to gain the skills and knowledge you need...