Speaking of kids with T1DM, (click here for previous kid-related post) I was just browsing around Amazon's selections of books for parents of type 1 children. There are, of course, a bunch of books on the market. Maybe not quite as many as I'd expected though. (Perhaps T1 parents turn to the web for support these days?) Anyway, there were some clear favorites amongst readers. But be prepared. To get to the good stuff, you will have to sift through tons of Diabetes Cured-Overnight!-style "self-help" manuals.

A current bestseller seems to be The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Juvenile Diabetes by Moira McCarthy and Jake Kushner. Bonus: it's part of the "Everything Guide" series of books, so it's packed with info, yet reasonably priced. A good buy. Having said that, there are tons of other general guides, like this one by physician Ragnar Hanas and this one by Victoria Peurrung.

I'm intrigued by this one: Growing Up with Diabetes: What Children Want their Parents to Know by Alicia McAuliffe. And here's one that got some very positive customer reviews: Real Life Parenting of Kids With Diabetes by Virginia Nasmyth Loy. I'm noticing a few specialty-topics popping up too. Example? Getting the Most out of Diabetes Camp. This book is all about..., um, diabetes camp. (File this book under "For parents who over-prepare!" LOL) Your kids grown up into teens? Never fear, there are books for parents of big kids too.

Best title, hands down? Janette Kirkham's Don't Put Test Strips in Christmas Stockings: And Other Ideas for Parents of Children with Diabetes. This book was published back in 2002 and it looks a little tougher to get a hold of.

Seriously, you'd have to have a heart of pure stone not to be moved by this YouTube video called "Hope is in a Cure." To a fairly sappy soundtrack (okay, okay I'm not a Mariah Carey fan), we see a photo slideshow unfold, telling the story of one little girl's daily experiences with type 1 diabetes. The power of this piece is in its simplicity: a series of one family's snapshots illustrates perfectly what these brave kids go through and the sacrifices the whole family must make when type 1 enters a child's life. Not to mention the agony the moms and dads go through. That is something I can only imagine - and hope I never have to experience myself.

There's a heartbreaker of a shot in here of the little girl asleep, hands tucked daintily and securely under her pillow, asleep and in one sense relaxed, yet on guard against the next skin prick she knows will eventually come.

"Hope is in a Cure" was posted by Lisa of Londonderry, New Hampshire. I don't know who made it. Check it out today. Better yet, send the link to a few people you know. Too few people understand what "type 1 families" live with day-to-day. Let people know that diabetes never takes a vacation and never sleeps. And let them know the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation needs our support - you can start by supporting the upcoming Walk to Cure Diabetes.

A new report says physical activity is critical for kids with type 1 diabetes because it helps prevent heart trouble later in life. The German and Austrian researchers behind the study reached this conclusion after crunching the numbers for more than 23,000 kids between ages three and eighteen, comparing their health with activity levels. As you would expect, the most active kids had the healthiest hearts and lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. By comparison, thirty-six percent of children who were active only once or twice a week had high cholesterol and triglycerides.

For type 1 kids, activity levels relate to HbA1c levels: fit children had lower HbA1c levels. High HbA1c levels in childhood practically guarantee your child will experience heart problems down the road. Says lead researcher Antje Herbst: "Clearly, getting off the couch and out of doors, where they can be more physically active, is good for all kids. But for children with type 1 diabetes, the need to stay physically active is even greater due to the increased risk for heart disease."

Parents: you don't have to sign your little ones up for triathlon training, boot camp or anything like that. Vigorous exercise is not necessary to reap the benefits. Regular periods of normal play are adequate. Even half an hour a day can make a difference, the researchers say. Common sense, however, suggests this is a case where more is definitely better.

The results of this study appear in the latest Diabetes Care (August 2007).