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Latest Posts

Diabetes And Pregnancy: A Success Story

I love my baby girl.Dear Baby,

I’ve been thinking about your face. Your hands. Your little feet and the chubby cheeks I’ve seen countless times on the ultrasound monitor. I’ve been thinking about the round swell of your baby belly, and the teeny nails on your little hands. Your petite ears. The little rosebud of a mouth. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

New Sandwich To “Start Killing People” Next Week

4344334.jpgPrimary care doctors and nutritionists will soon have a new threat in the fight against obesity. KFC is going national with its new “Double Down” sandwich on April 12.

This 540 calorie, 32g of fat, 1380mg of sodium “sandwich” replaces the bread or bun with two pieces of fried chicken.

In a somewhat hyperbolic article at Consumerist.com, its predicted that the new fast-food sandwich will “start killing people” nationwide next week.

Product page: Double Down…

More: Introducing The Vegan Double Down!

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*

How Does Healthcare Reform Affect People with Diabetes?

I can haz a question?The healthcare reform bill “doesn’t fix everything that’s wrong with our health care system, but it moves us decisively forward,” said the President.  Insurance companies will be under government regulations, coverage can’t be denied based on pre-existing conditions, and the bill is signed.

Wait…coverage can’t be denied based on pre-existing conditions?  

According to this New York Times editorial, “The biggest difference for Americans who have employer-based insurance is the security of knowing that, starting in 2014, if they lose their job and have to buy their own policy, they cannot be denied coverage or charged high rates because of pre-existing conditions. Before then, the chronically ill could gain temporary coverage from enhanced high-risk pools and chronically ill children are guaranteed coverage.”  

I’ve always wanted to take that leap and run my own business. I enjoy working in new media and healthcare, I like working hard, but what kept me from making a bold move was pure and unadulterated fear. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

Personalize Your Diabetes Management With Myabetic

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just before I started second grade, back in 1986.  I played with Barbie dolls, colored countless coloring books with my box of Crayola 96 (sharpener in the back), and sported a messy ponytail as often as my mom would allow.  

But my life also included dozens of plastic bags filled with orange-capped syringes.  And black meter cases that zipped up the side and held my glucose meter.  And small vials of bandaid-scented insulin.  My childhood was colorful and fun and just like every other kids’, but there were some dreary bits of diabetes management as a running thread.

I wish there had been things like this to hold my meter in when I was growing up with type 1 – because these meter cases are awesome:

This meter case was created by Kyrra Richards, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2007.  I think it is GORGEOUS.  After her diagnosis, Kyrra created Myabetic – a specialty store stocked with playful and cool glucose meter cases.  She sent me a few of her meter cases to review here on SUM, and she also offered to share a little bit of her story. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*

How To Make Your Own Sugar-Free Gummy Worms

OK, so this is not a medically brilliant post, but I thought I would share! For a low sugar snack, you can try making your own gummy worms! Thank you to whomever developed this fun treat!

Ingredients

  • 2 packages sugar free Jell-O
  • 2 packages plain gelatin
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • (optional) If you like sour gummies, you can add a packet of Kool-Aid to the ingredients

Directions Read more »

This post, How To Make Your Own Sugar-Free Gummy Worms, was originally published on Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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