What Do You Think About dLife?

1

I don’t have extended cable, so I have never seen their show, but my impression is that it’s pretty good.

I am looking into the possibility of doing some kind of partnering thing with their web site, but before I do, I want to get a feel for how regular folks with diabetes feel about them.

Is dLife perceived as working for the best interests of people with diabetes? Or are they, like so many health sites, trying to profit off us by selilng us products, drugs etc?

Also, how supportive are they of ideas like shooting for normal blood sugar numbers and using carb control to achieve them.

Thanks for your feedback!

–Jenny

2

I love dlife. I usually follow it online, but sometimes Ill be at the gym when its on so ill jump on the elip. closest to the tv that is showing it and watch it while working out. I love the segments… sometimes they are tear jerkers, like the one about the family whose little daughter was dx’ed and the husband had to go back to iraq (or something like that) because I felt so sad for the child but also the mother who was thrown into it all alone basically.

I think that the show really shows me that Im not alone in the battle, which is really important to me since I feel like the only type 1 in southeast michigan.

oh, and the receipes they come up with look soooo yummy, perhaps I should write them down lol

I wish the show was an hour long so I could watch it during my entire workout :slight_smile:

3

Sarah,

I’m glad to hear you have such a positive response to dLife. Sorry that you don’t know anyone else contending with Type 1 in your region. They must be there. I live in a tiny town and had two neighbors with close relatives with Type 1. The postmistress where I lived before that had one too.

None of these people would have mentioned it if I hadn’t brought up the topic of diabetes, though.

4

I have a lot of shows backed up on my TIVO becauseI don’t watch it as much as I used to, mostly because I find it kind of repetitive. (I can only watch so many segments about Gary Hall, Jr.) It’s not my impression that the show is just a commercial vehicle for retailers or pharmacy companies. They have a wide variety of guests, real debates about how tight control should be, segments about people and how they live with diabetes, and product news.

But I also find the presentation bland and formulaic. I liked it better when they had mutliple hosts exchanging comments and experiences instead of a single presenter. It doesn’t seem to be a show about reaching out to the general community about diabetes awareness, but part of an insular world - the ‘Diabetes Club’ so to speak.

If your audience is people with diabetes, go for it. If you’re looking for a broader audience, you won’t find it there, IMHO.

Terry

5

this past tuesday I had to drive 1.5 hours one way to get to a support group that out of 21 people, 3 of us were type 1, 1 was just diagnosed and still being determined if shes type 1 or two. Of the 3 type 1s there, 1 was blind after 25 years… the other was 70 years old and just diagnosed due to having cancer (or something like that) and me- the 23 yr old health nut who knew everything lol

6

Terry,

My audience is DEFINITELY people with diabetes, most specifically, people with diabetes who already know the basics and are looking for in depth information they can’t find elsewhere. For example, today I just put a new page on my Blood Sugar 101 site that investigates the research linking diabetes to dementia and extracts the real findings which are quite different from what you are reading in the media. (It’s on the page you’ll find clicking on the “complications” tab.)

So dLife could be a very good partner for me. Most of the other sites that have approached me in the past were looking to get traffic from my sites rather than create synergy. dLife, obviously, has a lot more traffic than I do.

7

I agree with you, Terry.

A little bland but very much directed at an undereducated diabetic population - so Jenny, the kind of info that Blood Sugar 101 provides might be perfectly suited to their audience. I watch the show regularly just to see what kind of info they put out there. I rarely disagree with any information they provide, but I never learn anything I don’t already know either. Like Terry said, it’s repetitive.

Also, because both of the principal hosts are Type 1s, they tend to make very clear distinctions about Type 1 or Type 2 when they speak, so I appreciate that. The doctors and guests that speak are very good, too, though sometimes Nicole’s follow-up questions are a little inane. Jim Turner’s sense of humor is kind of an acquired taste (which I’ve yet to acquire, I think), but I usually appreciate his segments because he’s lived so long with diabetes - though he’s a bit cynical and anti-pump.

8

Jenny,

That link isn’t working . . . can you provide another?

Terry

9

There are several distinct segments to the dLife entity. The most publicly-visible are the weekly TV show (aimed at people with diabetes and family caregivers) and the public part of the Web site (including recipes, TV segments, ask an expert, and Blogabetes). There are also an extensive number of online forums, the “dLife Wall” in which one may post one’s personal story, and the new dLife social community where ordinary members may blog, and there are condition-related groups for discussion.

The TV show is the only show aimed specifically at people with diabetes (and their family caregivers) and is more diabetes-specific than, say, the diabetes segments on Health Corner (a Walgreen’s-sponsored half-hour program on Lifetime). That said, it suffers from having too few new episodes per year and too many recycled, or partially-recycled, segments.
The approach is fairly evenhanded, with time given to public health issues (T2 in Los Angeles barrio youth, getting insulin to T1 kids in South Africa, the Asheville Program), medical information (typical heart examination, foot examination, eye examination; life with a pump; life with a CGM; upcoming medications), men’s and women’s health issues, and different approaches to diabetes management (Dr. Bernstein was an early guest on the program). Because of time limitations, most of what is presented is fairly basic and can be easily understood by the typical American with diabetes.

The show appears to be sponsored by several meter companies (Abbott, Lifescan, and Bayer), OmniPod, and I think the companies behind Lantus and Januvia.

The Web site adds another layer to the show. Show notes add links to information discussed in each segment, there’s an “Ask the Expert” area with a basic knowledgebase and the ability to ask questions of CDEs and RDs, a newsfeed (mostly the same stuff you’ll find on Health Central, but more diabetes-selective), a diabetes-oriented online mall, and the often-referred to “dLife Wall” of personal stories. “Viewpoints” are monthly columns by some of the more powerful voices in the patient community, including Amy Tenderich, Manny Hernandez, Kerri Sparling, etc. The “Blogabetes” area is a metablog whose contributors range from well-known dBloggers such as Scott Johnson and George Simmons to voices I’ve not seen elsewhere such as Kim Doty.

There is also an extensive recipe database with nutritional information provided.

The site is not specifically low-carb. It neither espouses nor eschews carb restriction as the sole method of blood glucose control. On the show, many of Michel Nischan’s recipes are reduced-carb or low-carb; OTOH, there is often a Kraft-sponsored cooking segment/ad that pays more attention to artificially-sweetened or calorie-portioned branded products than truly healthy foods.

10

I watch every week and I do think it is a good vehicle for folks desperate for info, like the newly diagnosed. I often tape it and bring it in for the diabetes life skills class I colead at my internship site. The cooking segment is always a low carb alternative which I believe will go along with what you talk about on your site. I have tried some of the recipes and I always get a great post pradinal blood sugar reading after eating those foods made from the recipes. I really like the show and it has helped my husband understand more about the disease, so that has been good. He always likes to learn more and the show gives him things to go look up online after he watches it!

11

Sorry! Try this:

Blood Sugar 101

12

This is sounding really good.

I am not clear on exactly what they are interested in. They contacted me, and it might just be that they want to syndicate my blog. But it sounds like it would be a good match.

I have no problem with wide varieties of approaches being presented, because if there is one thing I’ve learned over the past decade, it is that people have a wide variety of different physiological conditions that are lumped under the name “diabetes” and what works for one will not work for another. So you do have to try a lot of different approaches.

The only sites that bother me are the ones that hew tightly to the ADA line with it’s definition of “tight control” as 180 mg/dl and promotion of crap like breakfast cereal as “healthy for diabetics” because it’s low fat.

13

Tight control at 180! That is retarded on so many levels! Regarding cereal being healthy for diabetics, I don’t eat any boxed cereal anymore. Even plain Cheerios or Rice Crispies makes me high as heck after eating them. I am better off eating a high fiber pancake with some protein or a ThinkThin bar for breakfast than cereal.

14

Suzanne,

The official ADA definition of “tight control” on their web site is still 180 mg/dl at 2 hours after eating and they warn that lower than that might be dangerous.

See if you can find the word “carbohydrate” on that page.