Nearly everyone with type 1 diabetes has heard the news that exercise is good for you and helps control your blood sugar. Yet, study after study reveals that the majority of people with diabetes don't exercise on a regular basis. Why? That's what I want to find out.

I would like to know more about are the obstacles you face in trying to work exercise into your normal routine. It is not simply a matter of "planning it in" as some might say. I believe there are a number of important issues that revolve around lifestyle habits, relationships and ways of thinking that keep many people from experiencing the benefits of exercise.

I've started a discussion on my forum that will act as a way for you to post your opinion and also read the challenges others face. I will use the comments to create new articles that address the common themes.

You might have noticed some new articles on my site regarding discrimination at school and day care due to diabetes. I believe this is a more common problem than previously thought and am interested in your feedback. It is not usually the case that school personnel aren't concerned about a child with diabetes, but rather they often are not appropriately trained to understand how to monitor or treat situations that might relate to diabetes management.

I'm conducting a poll to get some feedback on your experience. Please take a moment and vote on whether your child has experienced discrimination at school or daycare as a result of having diabetes. You can also post your story in the discussion forum for others to read and respond to.

Researchers are developing an artificial kidney that could revolutionize how dialysis is performed. Since diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, this is welcome news to those who are on dialysis or experiencing kidney complications that may eventually lead to dialysis.

The device works like a miniaturized dialysis machine that is worn as a belt and powered by two nine-volt batteries. Though a little heavy at 10 pounds, it would still enable a person to walk, work and sleep while they receive dialysis treatment round the clock.

The artificial kidney has proven to function well in preliminary tests, including two studies in dialysis patients. But clinical trials are still needed to show the long-term effect of this technology on dialysis patients. Though the technology is not yet available, there is much hope that such a device will eventually reduce the costs and difficulty of dialysis for the nearly 400,000 people in the U.S. who currently undergo dialysis on a regular basis.

Could type 1 diabetes be reversed with a vaccine so that the pancreas begins producing insulin again? It sounds almost too good to be true, but that is exactly the research going on at Massachusetts General Hospital. The vaccine has already made it quickly through Phase I safety trials and is now moving to Phase II trials on humans.

The vaccine, called Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), is a generic drug that also is used in small doses to vaccinate against tuberculosis and treat bladder cancer. Researchers believe that this same drug may also prove to be effective at reversing the autoimmune response of the body to shut down insulin production. In studies with mice, it has reversed type 1 diabetes and destroyed the problematic cells while leaving the immune system healthy and intact.

In Phase II trials they will use the BCG vaccine on humans in an effort to determine the appropriate dose and frequency of the drug. These are expected to begin as soon as enough participants have been recruited. Stay tuned for more updates.

Learn more about the fascinating research regarding this vaccine.

Nearly every person with type 1 diabetes is eager for the development of the “artificial pancreas:” an insulin pump that can automatically read your glucose and dispense the precise amount of insulin needed. This technology needs further development before reliability is consistent enough to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But we’ve taken one significant step closer with the development of a new insulin pump.

The Paradigm Veo System, made by Medtronic, includes an insulin pump with a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system that measures glucose levels in a new way. If a glucose level drops below a defined threshold, the pump will automatically suspend insulin delivery for up to two hours. This will help to protect against receiving too much insulin and risking a hypoglycemia event.

The new pump is being launched in more than 50 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and Latin America. It is not yet available in the U.S. but Medtronic is working closely with the FDA on approval in the U.S. as well.

You can learn more information about the Paradign Veo System at Medtronic’s site.

If you are not on an insulin pump, you are probably still using syringes to deliver your daily insulin. If you are like most people, you would gladly trade your regular injections for a less painful alternative.

A new skin patch may eventually offer your this alternative. This skin patch is lined with microneedles and may be able deliver insulin and other medications effectively just by applying the patch to the skin. These microneedles extend out only about the width of a human hair and might one day replace the syringe or insulin pump. It has many potential applications, such as administering a flu vaccine or other medications.

In tests on mice, the patch has worked as well as traditional injections. But clinical trials will probably need to be conducted before this technology could be available at your local pharmacy.

If such a patch were available to deliver insulin and proven to be as effective as insulin injections, would you use them? If not, why not? Post your answers below.

Devices to Help Overcome the Fear of Needles

Helping Children Overcome the Fear of Needles

If you’ve been keeping current with the latest diabetes-related news, you no doubt have heard about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). A CGM system is a short-term way to analyze your glucose fluctuations. A new study shows that participants who were already managing their glucose well (A1c levels below 7%) with intensive insulin therapy improved their results even more (to an average of 6.4%) by using a CGM system to monitor their blood sugar.

Over the 26 weeks of the study, participants who used the CGMs not only improved their A1c results but also spent less time with glucose readings below 60 mg/dL and more time in the target range of 70 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL.

Though CGMs are typically used for shorter periods of time (5-7 days) to monitor glucose patterns, they are quickly becoming known as a valuable tool for improving glucose management.

Have you used a CGM? If so, did it help identify problematic patterns? If you have not used a CGM, would you be open to using it for a week? If not, why not? Post your responses below.

For years we have been hearing health care professionals tell us that tight control over glucose levels will likely result in fewer complication down the road. But there was always a problem: it was more speculation than hard science. Now that speculation has evolved into facts that we can trust.

A new study shows that those with type 1 diabetes who practice tight control of their glucose (through multiple blood sugar checks and multiple insulin injections each day) are able to significantly reduce their risk of health complications later on.

The study looked at results from three large, long-term studies: the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), its follow-up study, the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC); and the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) study.

What do the findings of this latest study mean to you? Does this motivate you to practice intensive glucose therapy? If so, what are you doing to set the bar higher for yourself? If not, what do you find are the main obstacles to tighter glucose control? Post your responses below.