Beyond Type 1

Sensitive Topic Warning: If you are a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Support is available to you, and you do not have to stay in the situation you are in. For this article and to protect the privacy of our community members, respondents’ names have been replaced with aliases. Toxic relationships mean different things to different people, including those with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

When we think of a medical emergency, Hollywood paints a picture of someone calling 911, an ambulance gets sent, and within minutes emergency care is rendered, letting them live to see another day. Care and transport in an urban setting operates through the lens of speed and system density. But in rural America, the response systems revolve around distance management and resource scarcity. The U.S. Census Bureau defines a rural area as a territory with less than 2,000 housing units or 5,000 people.

Let’s be honest—living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) means dealing with some unfair misconceptions and stigma. Some people think you’re lazy, overweight or obese, hate exercise and don’t eat healthily. If you mention your family has a history of diabetes, especially type 2, people might think you’re just making excuses for your lifestyle. They’re wrong, but why? What’s the link between type 2 diabetes, genetics and heredity? In this guide, we spell it out and explain the link.

For most people, your A1C is a three-month average. Higher numbers mean more sugar in your blood, which over time may raise your risk of complications from diabetes. Most healthcare providers look at A1C levels in a range to determine diabetes risk and assess if treatment plans are working. But what if that number is wrong? For millions of people with sickle cell trait (SCT), it might be. When sugar enters your blood, it sticks to a protein in your red blood cells.

So you got the lab results, saw the word “prediabetes” and now there’s one question running on repeat through your mind: is type 2 diabetes (T2D) inevitable? It’s a fair question, and it’s usually the first one people ask. The honest answer that most people don’t like to hear is: it depends. Prediabetes means your blood sugar is running higher than the target range, but not high enough yet to cross into T2D territory. What happens from here isn’t fixed in stone.

When you were told you have type 2 diabetes (T2D), you probably learned you need to change what you eat. You also might have heard that you should eat less sugar or stop eating it altogether. Many healthcare providers (HCPs) encourage people with T2D to manage their condition by counting the carbohydrates (carbs) in their food. While sugar isn’t always forbidden for people with T2D it does make an impact on blood sugar (glucose) levels and overall health.

If you’ve lived with type 1 diabetes (T1D) for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard it a hundred times: “A cure is just around the corner.” For decades, those words have inspired hope, fueled research, and, at times, have led to disappointment and cynicism. Today, however, the conversation feels and looks different.

Editor’s Note: This article discusses self-harm, insulin misuse and suicidal ideation. If you’re in crisis, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). There’s a conversation happening in diabetes care that not enough people hear and one that’s never too late to have. It’s about what happens when the things keeping you alive, like insulin, becomes what you use to hurt yourself.

If you live with type 2 diabetes (T2D), this is big news about heart health. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in people with diabetes, and Mounjaro just received FDA approval that could have a major impact on that. On August 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Eli Lilly’s dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events—including death, non-fatal heart attack and non-fatal stroke—in adults with T2D.

Diabetes is a lot to manage, and you shouldn’t have to do it without support. GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP medications can lighten that load, like by improving your glucose and A1C levels, supporting heart health, improving sleep and helping with weight loss. When a GLP-1 or GLP-1/GIP dual agonist can make that much of a difference on your wellbeing, getting access to one shouldn’t be out of reach. Step 1: Set goals that meet your personal needs and share those with your healthcare provider (HCP).