From the New York Times:

Friends, colleagues and her physician say Judge Sonia Sotomayor is managing her diabetes effectively, with a no-nonsense attitude and attention to detail that have characterized her legal opinions. Sotomayor has been nominated to serve on the Supreme Court.

Andrew Jay Drexler, her long-time doctor, wrote in a letter provided by the White House that

… Judge Sotomayor has maintained “excellent control” over her blood sugar in the more than 20 years he has cared for her. She is free from eye, kidney and nerve complications and not expected to develop any, he wrote, adding that her blood sugar levels, as measured by the standard A1C hemoglobin test, have consistently been “better than 98 percent of diabetics.”

… “She watches her diet and does all the things somebody with diabetes who is prudent would do,” said Ellen Chapnick, a dean at Columbia Law School and a close friend, “but not in a way that makes her a victim of a disease or a person whose life is ruled by a disease.”

Earlier posts here.

Press release from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law:

A coalition of disability advocacy organizations has sent a letter of support for Supreme Court candidate Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter cited Sotomayor’s “extensive experience in, and careful approach to, deciding disability rights cases,” as well as her life experience managing diabetes.

“Judge Sotomayor has repeatedly demonstrated a thorough understanding and a deep respect for the laws that protect the rights of Americans with physical and mental disabilities, like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We have every reason to believe she will continue this stellar record when confirmed to the Supreme Court,” said Robert Bernstein, Ph.D., executive director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

The letter is signed by more than twenty disability rights organizations, ranging from the Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to the United Spinal Association.

Earlier posts here.

‘Eight cyclists show what vigilance about health can accomplish’

By Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times:

A team of eight cyclists with Type 1 diabetes completed the 3021-mile Race Across America in record time last week. Team members said the skills they had gained in managing their diabetes provided them with a competitive edge, helping them manage their health and performance meticulously throughout the grueling ride.

The accomplishments of the cyclists, who have a corporate sponsor and ride as Team Type 1, have become a source of inspiration for the estimated three million Americans with Type 1 diabetes, and especially for worried parents confronting a diagnosis of the disease in their children.

But the victory also offers lessons for the rest of us, underlining the benefits of daily vigilance when it comes to health.

… The cyclists’ average speed was 23.41 miles per hour — 0.17 better than the winner last year, a Norwegian cycling team made up of professionals.

See also:

Cyclists with Type 1 diabetes race across America – New York Times

(NYT photo: Team Type 1 co-founders Joe Eldridge, left, and Phil Southerland)

Dr. Christopher D. Saudek writes in the Baltimore Sun that Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination points out the contributions of people with diabetes, and reminds us that each person with a disability “is entitled to individual consideration and reasonable accommodation.”

Saudek says court-mandated limitations on the Americans with Disabilities Act deprived people with diabetes of legal protection against discrimination. The ADA Amendments Act last year extended protection to disability groups that had been excluded.

Much is being written about Judge Sotomayor’s legal prowess, her ethnicity and her gender, but the other story is at least as big. It is the story of medical progress that allows people with diabetes to lead full, healthy lives. It is the story of how some 24 million Americans with diabetes, more than 2 million with type 1 diabetes, are increasingly contributing in the mainstream of American life. And it is the story of the ongoing effort to snuff out the remnants of discrimination against people with chronic diseases like diabetes.

Dr. Christopher D. Saudek is a professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Diabetes Center.

(ABC News photo)

From USA Today:

Medical experts say media coverage of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor demonstrates some widely held public misperceptions about diabetes. Among the most common myths: that people with diabetes are too sickly to work, have difficulty managing their medications, and should not be able to reproduce.

“From my personal experience, having lived an awfully long time with diabetes, I’ve certainly had my share of ignorant remarks made,” says Ann Albright, 50, director of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has had type 1 diabetes since she was 9.

“People say ignorant things because they don’t really understand the disease,” she says.

The experts were gathered for the American Diabetes Association’s 69th Annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.

See also: Meeting the challenge of diabetes — Sara Sklaroff in the Washington Post

When President Obama announced his nominee for the Supreme Court last week, he trumpeted her childhood diagnosis of diabetes as one of the challenges she’d overcome. Sonia Sotomayor‘s success is a testament to how extraordinary life with diabetes can be. Yes, this is a serious disease, without a cure, but it is also very treatable.

… Highly motivated people like Sotomayor do particularly well with the self-management tasks of diabetes. She is also lucky enough to have health insurance, given that diabetes can be expensive to treat and requires access to good medical care.

Earlier posts here.

By Andie Dominick, editorial writer, in the Des Moines Register:

Sotomayor — like every kid diagnosed with diabetes — likely grew up wondering what the future held. Being told you couldn’t grow up to be a cop was one thing. We also got the message we shouldn’t have children, could expect many health complications — from kidney failure to blindness — and wouldn’t likely live to a ripe, old age.

In coming weeks, Sotomayor will endure plenty of public scrutiny — about everything from her personality to her rulings and even her health. Whether or not she’s confirmed, the 54-year-old judge’s accomplishments are an inspiration — to every kid who grew up poor, or lost a parent, or has lived with a chronic illness.

From the Los Angeles Times:

If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor would be its first known member with Type 1 diabetes. Medical experts aren’t worried.

Said Dr. Peter Butler, chief of endocrinology at UCLA Medical Center:

“There’s absolutely no reason whatsoever that she should be less effective at all. I’m confident she’ll see off most of the other members of the Supreme Court.”