American Diabetes Wholesale is here to help you enjoy your vacation, from the initial planning, all the way to when you walk out the door to begin your journey.  Vacations are all about fun and adventure so let these tools make it all a pleasant experience.  Imagine how much enjoyment you can look forward to if the planning is easy and not stressful.  Allow us to help you with that responsibility with our list of tools available to help you.  Start smiling right now!

Check out Marci Sloane’s article on: Traveling with Diabetes

In this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter, Dr. Forrest Resnikoff gives us some great insights on taking care of our skin during these winter months. This can be especially challenging for those of us managing a diabetic condition, so Dr. Resnikoff offers some suggestions on how to best minimize dryness to avoid skin complications that can be exacerbated by diabetes.

“In many parts of the country winter brings cold weather and a drop in humidity. Skin tends to lose its water by evaporation into this dry environment. This is particularly extreme with aging or with diabetes, when the skin’s oil glands become less productive. Without a barrier of oil the skin can’t prevent this evaporation and is much more prone to becoming dry.”

“The key to avoiding dryness is to keep this water from evaporating from the skin into the air. It is water that moisturizes the skin. Lotions don’t do a very good job of holding this water in the skin because they are made up mostly of water with only a small amount of oil. Creams and ointments are more effective because they have a higher content of oil.”

This article truly contains timely recommendations that everyone can benefit from.

Go here to read entire article: Tips for Winter Skin Care – Dr. Forrest Resnikoff, MD, FAAD

This week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter features an interesting discussion by our own “Nurse Robbie” on ketones and why it’s important for people managing their diabetes to also consider monitoring their ketone levels. Among other things, measurement and understanding ketone levels is important because increased ketone levels in the blood can be toxic to folks with diabetes. An interesting aside is that ketone measurement can also be important for anyone interested in lowering carbohydrate levels in their daily diet.

“A by-product of fat breakdown is ketone production, which is toxic to the body. This complication is known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and can lead to illness or even death.”

“Low carbohydrate diets like the Atkins’s diet or phase 1 of the South Beach diet can cause ketone production as well. The difference is that this is dietary ketosis and NOT diabetic ketoacidosis.”

Nurse Robbie also goes into great detail to outline both symptoms and treatment methods for Diabetic Ketoacidosis, or “DKA.” This is a really interesting article that is well worth reading for anyone seeking a greater understanding of ketones and their effect on the human body.

Go here to read the entire article: What You Should Know About Ketones | Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

Got a sweet tooth but need to watch your sugar intake? You’re not alone! In this week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter, Registered Dietician Marlene Koch gives us some healthy options for baking with less sugar and sugar substitutes.

“In recipes where sugar’s primary role is simply to sweeten, such as a cheesecake or mousse, swapping out most, or even all of the sugar, with a sugar substitute is not usually a problem… make sure that the amount of sugar substitute you use is equal to the amount of sweetness provided by the sugar called for in the recipe…”

Marlene goes on to give some great tips and  tricks for reducing the amount of sugar while baking and how to better utilize sugar substitutes so you can hit that “sweet spot” between sugar reduction and great taste. Marlene has proven to us that you can “have your cake and eat it too!”

Go here to read entire article: Sweet Tips for Reduced Sugar Baking - Marlene Koch, RD

This Week’s American Diabetes Wholesale Newsletter has some great insights into the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the United States as well as the importance of preventative medicine as a means of forestalling this serious malady. Dr. Mistiszyn goes into quite a bit of detail, outlining the many and varied groups of people that are being affected as well as why it’s important to educate everyone on how to prevent this disease.

“An even more staggering statistic is that in the United States the number one cause of vision loss in people age 20-74 is diabetic retinopathy. It is present more in men than women and in Blacks and Mexican Americans more than Caucasians.”

This is a must read for all people living with diabetes and looking for ways to arm themselves with more information on how to prevent diabetic retinopathy.

Go here to read entire article: Cholesterol, Blood Sugar & Diabetic Retinopathy - Dr. Kimberly Mistiszyn, O.D.

This week’s Newsletter is an eye-opening look at the issue of pre-diabetes in the United States by Roberta Kleinman, RN. “Nurse Robbie” presents us with some sobering statistics on the state of this growing health concern. Pre-diabetes is is a condition where the blood sugar levels are above normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

“Did you know nearly 30% of all adults in the U.S. have pre-diabetes? More than 90% of these 57 million adults aren’t even aware they have pre-diabetes.”

“50% of Americans diagnosed with pre-diabetes do not make changes, such as lowering body mass and exercising, to help avoid full-blown diabetes at a later date.”

Loaded with statistics that may alarm as well as suggestions for lifestyle changes that we all could benefit from, this is a very informative article that will definitely make you think twice about pre-diabetes and all of its warning signs.

Read the entire article here:

What Nurse Robbie Wants You to Know About Pre-Diabetes by Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

In this week’s newsletter, our resident “travel expert,” Nurse Robbie, dispenses some great advice on traveling while managing your diabetes. Whether it’s “Getting Organized,” “Stocking Up on Supplies & Medication,” or “Eating in Moderation & Staying Active,” the tips that she imparts not only apply to diabetic travelers, but to any folks managing an ongoing medical condition that want to hit the road. Nurse Robbie reminds us that although it’s great that we’ve decided to travel and not let any medical issues hamper our wanderlust, it’s still a good idea to prepare for any eventuality. With her advice, you can be confident that your diabetes need not be a burden to you or your loved ones while on vacation.

Go here to read entire article: Nurse Robbie’s 12 Summer Travel Tips | Roberta Kleinman, RN, M.Ed., CDE

The GlucoStories contest ended a few weeks ago and American Diabetes Wholesale, Charlie Kimball, winner Brian Harris and his son and the contest partners and sponsors all celebrated at the Firestone® Indy Lights Championship race in Homestead, Florida. We are thankful to everyone that participated in the original contest and helped make it such an overwhelming success!

Based on the fantastic reaction we received from the original Share Your Story Contest, we have re-launched the GlucoStories website with new features, and best of all – new submissions are being accepted. This time around though, your story about diabetes will not only inspire the GlucoStories community but also help out a diabetes charity of your choice as American Diabetes Wholesale will donate $3.00 for every published story! The organizations include:

• American Diabetes Association – South Florida
• Diabetic Rockstar
• JDRF – Greater Palm Beach County
• Defeat Diabetes Foundation

It’s simple to participate, just register for a FREE account, write your inspirational story about how diabetes has affected you, a relative, a friend or anyone else, decide which charity you want ADW to donate to and submit!

Let’s unite and share inspirational diabetes stories during Diabetes Awareness Month in November, and help raise money for a worthy cause! Our goal is to raise $3,000 and have at least 1,000 stories on GlucoStories.com!

Destination Diabetes had the privilege of talking with Dr. Richard Bergenstal, the Vice President of Medicine & Science of the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Bergenstal has dedicated 30 years of his career to making life better for people with diabetes.

Recently, the ADA surveyed 1,000 men with type 2 diabetes, age 40-60, as well as 1,000 female spouses of men who have type 2 diabetes. The survey assessed their general knowledge of type 2 diabetes and associated complications.

The ADA has information on its website dedicated to men’s health issues. For more information, please visit www.diabetes.org/menshealth.

Watch the interview here!

We have added two new Insulin Pumps, the Minimed Paradigm 522 Insulin Pump and the Minimed Paradigm 722 Insulin Pump. The Minimed Paradigm 522 holds 176 units of insulin, while the 722 holds 300 units of insulin. These pumps will work with the Minimed Paradigm Glucose Sensor 10 Pack, Minimed Paradigm Glucose Sensor 4 Pack, and the NovaMax Link Blood Glucose Monitoring system.

These Pumps will work wirelessly with the NovaMax Link Meter.