Joslin Diabetes Center
One of the world's leading institutions in diabetes care, research, and education, the Joslin Diabetes Center's site includes loads of useful information in its Beginner's Guide, Library, and Diabetes Words and Phrases sections. Check out the link to the article "Growing Older and Staying Healthy with Diabetes," as well as the free link to the CalorieKing dowloadable toolbar, the leading calorie-counting guide.
You can also order the well-respected Joslin Guide to Diabetes via the site and participate in discussion boards moderated by diabetes professionals, where you can learn more about the disease, find support, and discover new ways to handle challenges in online conferences such as "Beating Diabetes Burnout." In addition, you can take one of the site's four online diabetes classes (complete with sound and animation) or one of their text-based courses when you join the Online Learning Center.
Ask NOAH About Diabetes
www.noah-health.org/en/endocrine/diabetes
A partnership of libraries under the banner New York Online Access to Health (NOAH), this site provides one-stop shopping for a wealth of diabetes materials and articles available online in both English and Spanish via links to other sites, including the ADA, NIDDK, and Joslin, along with other medical groups with expertise in the area such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and American Academy of Family Physicians.
NOAH also offers links to interesting online magazines, including Diabetic Gourmet, Diabetes Self-Management, and the online magazine Diabetic Lifestyle. Especially relevant NOAH areas worth browsing include seniors and diabetes, complications and concerns, nutrition, care and treatment, and living with diabetes.
The Diabetes Action Network
This site, a division of the National Federation of the Blind, is geared toward people with diabetes who have lost or are losing their vision. It provides educational materials about vision-related issues and up-to-date information via its quarterly news magazine, Voice of the Diabetic. The site includes information about NFB-sponsored senior fairs, literature aimed at seniors, low-vision resource kits for seniors, and links to aids, appliances, and other vision-impaired services via its products and technology section.
dlife
www.dlife.com
This award-winning commercial site provides a slew of user-friendly nuggets of information targeted at people with diabetes and those who care for them. Find basic topics covered, along with features such as recipes, support forums (including a senior center message board), newsletters, and expert q&as that offer practical tools and tips and support in dealing with diabetes in daily life. Dlife.com is part of a network of diabetes consumer offerings that include a TV program, a radio show, community outreach efforts, and an online store offering supplies, products, and services.
Defeat Diabetes Foundation
The Defeat Diabetes Foundation, a nonprofit, Florida-based outfit, aims to inform, educate, and provide accurate, up-to-date, and practical information on the treatment and self-management of the disease. This quirky site, established by a senior citizen, marathon participant, and insulin-dependent diabetic with neuropathy named Andrew Mandell, seeks to emphasis that people with diabetes are neither helpless nor hopeless and can lead productive lives.
To that end, the site has a strong self-care focus and solid links to the latest diabetes news via its newsletter. Worthwhile areas to browse include those devoted to complications, the elderly, and nutrition. The site also follows the adventures of Andy Mandell (aka Mr. Diabetes) on his epic 10,000-mile journey around the U.S. to raise awareness about diabetes, dubbed the Wake Up and Walk Tour, scheduled to wind up in December 2008.
American Dietetic Association
An invaluable resource for all things diet-related, this site is run by the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition experts. It offers food tips such as how to cook whole grains, features like how to eat a more healthful diet one step at a time, loads of recipes, and other handy food and nutrition information for the general public as well as for people with diabetes.
American Society of Consultant Pharmacists
A professional association whose goal is to provide quality care to seniors, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists offers tips for the elderly and those who care for them on topics such as how to use medicines wisely, potentially inappropriate drugs for seniors, and how to identify a medication-related problem.The site also offers a useful, downloadable medication form and a link to geriatric specialist pharmacist around the U.S. and Canada.
