March has arrived and (hopefully!) soon we'll be seeing signs of spring surround us. I love this time of year, there's a certain comfort in watching things come alive again - longer days, blooming flowers, warmer weather.
I hope you enjoy this month's newsletters - we've brought an array of information including a topic near and dear to all women: menopause. Some of us have years to go before we encounter it, some of us are living currently living with it, but we will all be affected by it at some point. Our partners at the Hormone Health network have a great resource to learn more (see below). Additionally, we welcome Dr. Seibel to lead our next Life Class Webinar - please register today.
We have officially opened registration for our 9th Weekend for Women Conference Series. Please mark your calendar for October 13-15, 2017, in Alexandria, VA. This is exciting, as we have lined up a great faculty to bring discussions and education on topics such as Diabetes Technology, Heart Disease, Anxiety, Laughter with Diabetes, and much much more. Please click on the link to the right for more information, including agenda, hotel information and a link to register.
Until next month,
Anna Norton, MS
CEO
23 Triumphant (NOT Perfect!) Years THRIVING with Diabetes
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LIFE CLASS WEBINAR:
DIABETES AND MENOPAUSE
This 30-minute webinar will discuss menopause, diabetes and how hormones like estrogen and progesterone may affect blood sugar.
5 Things Women with Diabetes Should Know About Menopause
led by Mache Seibel, MD
Wednesday, March 22, 4pm est
All who register will be entered to win a copy of the
Dr. Mache's book, The Estrogen Window.
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This post is sponsored by
By Bonnie Goldberg, MA, RD, CDE
Bonnie is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters Degree in Health Education from Columbia University. She specializes in diabetes care and has spent her career educating and empowering people with diabetes. She is proud to currently work for Medtronic.
When first thinking about insulin pump therapy or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), did you have questions or thoughts of what it might be like and how it would work? Maybe you were concerned about what taking the next step would be like? Or, you may have used CGM in the past, but with so many advancements over the last couple of years there may be other things you could learn. Today, we address a few misconceptions or myths people associate with CGM, and tell you the real answers.
Myth 1: If I go on CGM, it will replace my fingerstick tests. Reality: While this is the goal for the therapy in the future, today's CGM devices do not completely replace fingerstick testing. Since sensor readings are taken from your interstitial fluid and not your blood, you still need to test using a BG meter. This is required to calibrate the sensor throughout the day, to make sure the glucose sensor maintains accuracy over time and always when deciding whether or not to make a treatment decision.
Myth 2: CGM devices are not accurate. Reality: An oldie but goodie. It is important to note that sensor glucose readings are taken from your interstitial fluid (fluid surrounding the cells in your tissue), whereas fingerstick tests are taken directly from your blood. Because the readings are from two different places, there is a natural lag between glucose levels in the interstitial fluid and glucose levels in the blood. Therefore, it's normal, and should be expected, for your sensor glucose readings and BG readings to be different but for the most part they should be close. Learn more here.
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MENOPAUSE: WHAT NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU
Contributed by Mache Seibel, MD
About 6000 women enter menopause every day and millions more are in the ten-year window around menopause called perimenopause. During my nearly 20 years at Harvard where I ran the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital, and more recently as Director of the Complicated Menopause Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, I've had the opportunity to talk with and treat thousands of women for their menopause issues. Many of my patients came in feeling frustrated and confused.
But I found that when I helped women understand the issues they were facing, it helped them gain clarity over the contradictions, misunderstandings and negative press out there about menopause. I want to help you become more confident about where you are in this transition, more aware of what is possible to achieve, and more certain about how to achieve it.
1. Menopause is defined as one year after your last period. The average age in the United States is 51 years, and about 5 to 10 percent of women enter menopause before age 46. Menopause before age 45 is called early menopause and before age 40 is called premature menopause. I have some patients who go into menopause in their early 20s. If both your ovaries are removed by surgery, that is called surgical menopause, no matter what age you are.
2. Perimenopause is the window leading up to menopause. Hormones begin to go out of balance and some symptoms may start. Perimenopause begins up to 10 years before menopause. That means that if you enter menopause at age 51, you may begin experiencing symptoms as early as age 41; if you go into menopause at age 46, your symptoms may begin as early as age 36. So those occasional feelings of warmth, those suddenly whacky periods, those nights of poor sleep, those pangs of anxiety and that crazy brain fog may all be due to perimenopausal symptoms.
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DIABETESSISTERS TO DRIVE RESEARCH INITIATIVES: PLEASE REGISTER TODAY
Along with The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and TrustNetMD, we are gathering women's voices on questions, resources, and thoughts on relevant health topics for women and diabetes via a new website: DiabetesSistersVoices.
We invite all women over the age of 18, living with all kinds of diabetes, to register to the site and begin conversations with other women on life with diabetes, share resources, and pose pressing questions about the future of healthcare as it relates to life with diabetes. These contributions will shape the future of research, to be published in a final report, and distributed to healthcare providers.
Your thoughts, questions, and resource sharing are integral to research on diabetes and women. Please register today at www.diabetessistersvoices.org.
Funding for this project was awarded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
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TRACK YOUR JOURNEY:
A MENOPAUSE MAP
Source: Hormone Health Network from The Endocrine Society
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Contributed by Rhea Bhargava, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Sylvia E. Rosas, MD, Joslin Diabetes Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, in partnership with the National Kidney Foundation.
The kidney is responsible for filtering the blood, maintaining salt-water balance and removing waste products. When it does not work properly, waste products accumulate and water retention can occur. People with diabetes can develop damage to the small vessels in their kidneys, leading most commonly to slow progression of disease that is asymptomatic, but sometimes leads to complete shutdown of the kidneys.
Unfortunately, kidney disease does not have any particular signs and symptoms but can be easily detected during a routine medical visit by 2 common tests. In the urine, a test for protein (signifying inability of the kidney to reabsorb all the protein) is usually the first identifiable sign of diabetic kidney disease. In addition, when you develop kidney disease, the serum creatinine, a waste product from muscle metabolism, rises but this happens later in the course of disease.
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DiabetesSisters helps to connect women living with diabetes through peer support, education, and advocacy that improves their health and quality of life. We invite you to be part of expanding that network of sisterhood and strength by joining our new Sister Strength Monthly Giving program.
BECOME A SISTER STRENGTH MONTHLY DONOR
Since 2008, your dollars have allowed us to continue to grow our signature programs such as the PODS Meetup program, which reaches over 1,200 women annually, as well as maintain our online programs such as this e-newsletter and our website, which hosts over 440,000 visitors each year. Programming in 2016 and beyond will continue with existing and new programs, but we desperately need your support.
Set up your monthly gift today: Together we will build a stronger future for women with diabetes!
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REGISTER TODAY
JOIN US AT THE PREMIER FORUM FOR WOMEN WITH DIABETES
October 13-15, 2017
Alexandria, VA
Registration is now open for our 9th Weekend for Women Conference. Come learn from our esteemed faculty and share with other women walking your same journey.
Presented by
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VISIT OUR EDUCATIONAL LIBRARY
Click HERE to visit our growing library where you can download, print, and share this information.
The creation of many of these educational pieces were a result of the generous support of our Advisory Council and industry partners including AstraZeneca, BI, Center for Hope of the Sierras, Dexcom, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Lilly, Merck, MicroMass Communications, Novo Nordisk, and Regeneron.
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sisterTALK Blogs
Explore tips from our experts and stories from women like you who live with diabetes. Get connected, then join the discussion.
featured blogger
sponsored by
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March 2, 7pm
Chattanooga, TN
March 2, 6:30pm
Denver, CO
March 4, 8am
Columbus, OH
March 5, 5pm
Ventura County/San Fernando Valley, CA
March 6, 6:30pm
Rochester, NY (Westside)
March 6, 6pm
Princeton, NJ
March 8, 7pm
Greater Philadelphia, PA
March 9, 7pm
Apex, NC
March 15, 6pm
Boston Area South Shore/Braintree March 15, 7pm
VIRTUAL March 16, 8pm EST
Boston Area South Shore/Plymouth March 18, 1pm
Boston Area Somerville March 20, 7pm
Williamsburg, VA
March 21, 6pm
Greensboro, NC March 21, 6pm
Rochester, NY (Eastside) March 21, 6pm
Reno, NV March 21, 6:30pm
Chesapeake, VA March 23, 6:30pm
Richmond, VA March 23, 7pm
Boston (Metrowest) March 23, 7pm
Rochester, NY
March 28, 6:30pm
Albany/Schenectady, NY
Want to attend or start a local PODS Meetup? Want to learn more about the Virtual PODS Meetup?
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LILLY ANNOUNCES PLAN TO OFFER INSULIN AT DISCOUNTED PRICES
Lilly has announced plans to work with Blink Health to offer lower priced insulin to those who may be paying full retail prices at their pharmacies. The discounts may reduce costs for people who pay full retail prices at the pharmacy, such as those who have no insurance or are in the deductible phase of their high-deductible insurance plans.
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PATIENT PERSPECTIVE NEEDED
Glu is currently looking for women who fit the following criteria to participate in a survey focusing on experiences by women with type 1 diabetes across stages of pregnancy:
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Please consider using this link for a portion of your sales to impact DiabetesSisters.
SHOP FROM THIS LINK
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FreeToGo PRODUCTS
Designed by a woman living with diabetes, FreeToGo offers clothing, jewelry and accessories for people living with diabetes.
FreeToGo has committed a portion of their sales to DiabetesSisters. Visit them at www.freetogostyle.com
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