Everyday Diabetes Heros

Description

In the classic Hollywood western “The Magnificent Seven,” a little boy tells one of the excellent guy gunslingers who have just liberated a small Mexican pueblo from an outlaw gang that he is a hero. But the gunman quickly corrects him. He tells the boy that his father and all the other fathers in the pueblo are true heroes because they get up every morning without fail and go out to perform the hard, unending labor in the fields to provide for their families. The Magnificent Seven may come and go, but the fathers stay and endure.

That scene changed my concept of heroism. Could it be more than some brave, quick, spontaneous act, like a bystander rushing to pull a driver from a crashed car that may catch fire in a few more moments? Could it also be a quiet and unstinting effort to manage a challenging situation with little prospect of getting better? The answer is yes. In this issue, we spotlight “everyday heroes” from the diabetes community. These are type 1 and type 2 people with diabetes who bravely take on the day-to-day task of managing an often-frustrating disease. Their discipline and self-control reward them with a well-deserved sense of mastery—if only partial—over their condition. So, our cover story and main feature this month (pages 7 to 18) profile people with diabetes from different walks of life at different stages of the disease. Diabetes from different walks of life at different stages of the disease.

Why do some people, often men, think they can comment on women who are, in the gentle euphemism, “plus-sized?” After a recent hiking date with an otherwise pleasant man who
felt compelled to comment on the physical capabilities of a passing group of three plus-size women, I asked myself that question. Was this another example of “male privilege?”
I explain my take on the topic” Is Being A Plus-Size A Woman’s Issue?”

Is there a more valuable and accurate measure of blood sugar control than A1c? In my interview with the CEO of Dexcom (Page 24), he tells me that a newer measure, the Glucose Management Indicator, may end the A1c’s status as the number one diabetes diagnostic tool.

We also list the highlight of the American Diabetes Association Scientific session in San Francisco with its presenters and attendees, who are many of the best minds in diabetes research.