Diabetes By The Numbers

Mary Beth Withers Wyss has been living with Diabetic Macular Edema for some time.  She went through a two year clinical trial of an experimental drug designed to treat DME.  She talks about her experience, about why clinical trials are perfect for a patient like her, and even why she is still a Cleveland Browns fan (to put the timeline into perspective, this was recorded before the Cincinnati Bengals had lost a game this season, and now they have lost two).Mary Beth frankly talks about the difficulties of living with DME, and living with the fact that the best treatment available to her involves injections directly into her eyes.Want to know about Diabetic Macular Edema from someone who's been there?  Want to know about clinical trials designed to find a viable treatment for DME?  Then you'll want to listen to this podcast. ©Stephen Shaul Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic Learn more about diabetic macular edema (and other diabetes-related eye diseases), and find out more abou

I'm so grateful to my endocrinologist, Dr. Vivian Pao, for taking the time to speak with me on the complex relationship between a diabetes patient and their endocrinologist.This is the third and final part of our conversation, and in this episode, we talk about the importance of being honest with your endo, and what keeps her up at night. ©Stephen Shaul Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic Learn more about endocrinologists, read research and updates, and even search for an endocrinologist by clicking on one of the links below:American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Endocrine SocietyPediatric Endocrine Society

Some people only get to spend about 40 minutes each year with their endo... I got to spend close to an hour with her last week.  The conversation was so good that I've broken it up into four parts.In this episode, we talked about how an endocrinologist considers outside factors, including depression, in treating a Person With Diabetes.  Also, she talks about how she stays up on the latest and greatest in her profession, including a reference to Dr. Oz and some "raspberry, ketone thingamajiggy".This is part two of our conversation.  We get into a lot more in part three.  I hope you'll join us for that.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this installment.©Stephen Shaul Reference Material - Click below for more information on this topic Learn more about endocrinologists, read research and updates, and even search for an endocrinologist by clicking on one of the links below:American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Endocrine SocietyPediatric Endocrine Society

“Who is this Dr. Vivian Pao anyway?”, you might ask.She’s my endocrinologist.Some people only get to spend about 40 minutes each year with their endo... I got to spend close to an hour last week.Together, we talked about what exactly an endocrinologist specializes in (in addition to diabetes).  We also covered what she’s looking for from a diabetes patient at the quarterly appointment (and more importantly, why); and why she made me wait before allowing me to begin on my insulin pump.  Hopefully, you’ll begin to understand why I believe in her so much.  She is a huge, important part of my diabetes care team, and I value her input very much.The best part is, this is just the first part of our conversation.  We get into a lot more later on.  But you’ll have to wait for that.  Sorry.  Our talk was too good to just cut out questions for the sake of brevity.Part 2 is coming in the next installment.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this view from both sides of the desk. Reference Material - Click below for more i

Diabetes By The Numbers is back, this time with the CEO of Diabetes Sisters, Anna Norton.  Her passion and enthusiasm for leading this groundbreaking organization for women living with diabetes practically knocked me over from 700 miles away.Today, Anna and I talk about the mission of Diabetes Sisters, the various programs that the organization provides to educate, support, and empower women, and what’s on the agenda for 2016.  If you don’t know much (or anything) about Diabetes Sisters, or if you’re just looking to reconnect, this podcast is for you.

Everyone living with and affected by diabetes is excited about artificial pancreas research and the various innovations spawned by this remarkable technology. In this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers, I'm joined by Molly McElwee Malloy, who has just recently stepped into her latest role as Head of Patient Engagement at Type Zero Technologies.  She is an RN and Certified Diabetes Educator who has been living with diabetes since 1998.  She knows the relationship of diabetes, analytics, and technology like almost no other person I know. Type Zero is the continuation of artificial pancreas research started at the University of Virginia at their Center for Diabetes Technology.  In our conversation, we talk about the birth of Type Zero, its InControl platfrom including InControl Advice and InControl Cloud, and the timeline for development, testing, and submission for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Type Zero Technologies:typezero.comInterested in participating in a Type Zero clinical trial?  Se

It seems nearly everyone knows Nicole Johnson.  They remember her as Miss America 1999, they’ve seen her at conferences, on social media.  All that, plus the fact that she always seems to have a smile on her face, makes people forget that she is actually Doctor Nicole Johnson, who is the first person to earn a Doctor of Public Health degree at the University of South Florida.  Moreover, she is actually doing something important and meaningful with that distinction.  That’s why you’ll hear me refer to her as Dr. Johnson, rather than Nicole, throughout our talk.  She’s earned that right.In this episode of Diabetes By The Numbers, Dr. Johnson lets us in on the groundbreaking Postdoctoral Diabetes Fellowship Program that she’s running out of the University of South Florida.Part patient-facing, part research, five women from around the country will be taking part over the next year in a program that will develop and enhance their understanding of the complex relationship between human behavior and diabetes.  Defin

Bea Sparks has been living with Type 2 Diabetes since 2000.  She lives in the Chicago area and is an amazing, outstanding advocate for everyone living with diabetes. She writes at the blogs crankypancreas.com and TheType2Experience.com.   Today, we speak about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes advocates, how they respond in social media to news of the day, and... division where there should be no division.   ©Stephen Shaul

Katy Killilea joins me on the first episode of this new podcast.  Katy writes at the diabetes blog BigFootChildHaveDiabetes.com. She was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and her son lives with Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. Our conversation revolves around creating and submitting 504 plans for your child with diabetes, and submitting them to your local school district.  Many nuggets of information in a short amount of time.Thanks for listening! © Stephen Shaul