Hello and welcome to the May edition of Yada Yada. In this issue we let you know about Diabetes blog week (which has just wrapped up) and call for stories about living with type 1 that you might want to share. We also take a look at bolus calculators and some more interesting research about regenerating beta cells.
Correction to April Yada
In April's Yada we pointed you to a series of articles by Damien Larkins on the ABC website. Unfortunately, the link we provided was incorrect. The correct article and link is Taking control of type 1 diabetes: good and bad. Enjoy!
Diabetes blog week
Diabetes blog week ran from May 14-20 and had an avalanche of bloggers talking about living with diabetes. It was open to anyone who blogs about diabetes (not just type 1s) and each day bloggers were given a set topic to discuss. There was an incredible response as more than 200 bloggers signed up! The topics included: one thing you handle exceptionally with your diabetes; one thing you could improve; and your fantasy diabetes device.
The many posts that the topics inspired are listed on the Bitter Sweet Diabetes blog. Trawling through the links is a great way to find new and interesting diabetes blogs to read.
There's too much good content to point you to any specific posts, but dive in and see what you discover. You could post any blogs you found impressive or inspiring on the Reality Check post.
If diabetes blog week doesn't satiate your appetite for stories from people with type 1, our own T1DN website has an archive of stories about many different aspects of living with type 1. We'd love to add to the collection - so if you have a story about living with type 1 that you'd like to share, please send us a submission (details and tips for writing on the website) and we'll post a selection of stories to the site.
If you have a pump, you already know the advantages of having your bolus (insulin dose) for meals calculated automatically, but did you know this technology is available for people on multiple daily injections as well? Some recently published surveys and studies have looked at the use of bolus calculators with blood glucose meters.
The bolus calculator on a meter works in the same way as on a pump - an individual insulin to carb ratio along with current BGL and number of carbs consumed are used to suggest the correct bolus amount.
A survey published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technologyreported that using a bolus calculator decreased people's fears of hypos and increased their confidence in the insulin dose they gave. Another studyfound that more than half of manual insulin dose calculations were incorrect.
Some pharmaceutical companies in Australia have meters with inbuilt bolus calculators that are distributed on an 'as needed' basis through health care professionals. So if you're tired of being a human calculator all the time, have a chat to your diabetes educator or endocrinologist next time you see them.
There are also some bolus calculator apps available for iPhone and Android that you could check out.Rapid Calc is one app that handles bolus calculations and more. If you know of other useful apps, let us know on the Reality Check forum.
In previous editions of Yada, we've mentioned studies that stop the autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the pancreas to prevent or halt the onset of type 1. Now, there is new research that goes one step further and looks at how beta cells could be regenerated to allow people who've had T1D for a long time to benefit.
The researchers used an existing technique to stop the destruction of beta cells in diabetic mice, but then treated the mice with a growth factor to regenerate previously inactivated or destroyed beta cells. If it is possible to transfer this technique to humans, it would be a possible long-term treatment for T1. As each individual stage in the process has been previously trialled in humans, we are hoping the research can progress through animal trials to clinical testing as quickly as possible.
If diabetes blog week doesn't satiate your appetite for stories from people with type 1, our own 
In previous editions of Yada, we've mentioned studies that stop the autoimmune destruction of beta cells in the pancreas to prevent or halt the onset of type 1. Now, there is 
