Whom can I contact when I have questions about my diabetes?

Whom can I contact when I have questions about my diabetes?

First and foremost, you can contact your family physician, internist, and, if you have one, your endocrinologist or diabetologist. You can also contact your certified diabetes educator (CDE) nurse educator, dietitian, or pharmacist for questions in their respective fields. All American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) certified diabetes educators, regardless of their underlying professional credentials, should have at least some knowledge in all the major areas of diabetes management. You can contact your local American Diabetes Association (ADA) or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation ( JDRF) chapter. Contact information for the regional chapters (state and/or city) can be obtained through the website of the respective parent organizations. For ADA, go to http://www.diabetes. org, choose Community Events and Local Programs, and then select What’s Happening Locally and enter your zip code or city. For JDRF, go to http://www.jdrf.org and select JDRF in My Area and enter your state. Many regional chapters will have affiliated supporttype groups for people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. It is not usually necessary to become a member in order to attend and participate in these. There are a number of diabetes-related magazines and newspapers, both paper and online, that are published by these organizations. It is usually necessary to become a lay member in order to receive a subscription to these.

There are also online and paper magazines that are independent. This is a changing and dynamic environment and the best way to find out which are currently available is to enter the term diabetes magazine into your favorite Internet search engine. The ADA website (see previous mention) will provide you with a link to its publications, many of which are directed at people with diabetes, and include informative books on diet, nutrition, and medications, among others. Finally, your friends, colleagues, and relatives with diabetes can often be a great resource for local information and tips about managing your diabetes, although issues that fall into the realm of medical advice should only be provided by a licensed practitioner.