Chances are that you are visiting this site because you or someone you love has just been diagnosed with diabetes or has had diabetes for a while and you are trying to understand the disease and how to take care of it. Like all medical conditions you may find the language, medicines, and treatment recommendations complicated and confusing. You may also have heard that diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, or kidney failure, and you may be fearful that this could happen to you. It is true that these complications can occur if the diabetes is untreated or poorly con­trolled. With good care, however, all of these complications can be prevented.

The goal of www.reddiabetes.com is to give a clear picture of what diabetes is and how it can be treated. Living with diabetes can be challenging. It demands ones attention several times a day, and cannot be ignored for long. One has to acquire a new set of skills—learning to adjust medicines, diet, and physical activ­ity. For individuals who are very organized, the adjustments demanded by diabe­tes are easily incorporated into their routines. For others, the diabetes can become a straightjacket, but it does not have to be this way—there is a lot that you can do to make your diabetes manageable.

It may seem hard to believe, but there can be some positive aspects to a diagnosis of diabetes. First, unlike many other chronic illnesses, you can be in charge and you can control it. Second, the organizational skills and discipline that you develop car­ing for your diabetes can be successfully transferred to other aspects of your life. Third, once you have diabetes, you (and your doctor) will pay more attention to your health and you may in fact live longer and healthier.