About the Author

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Blood Sugar 101

Hi! I'm Janet Ruhl, also known as "Jenny," the author of this web site.

I'm 59 years old. I was first diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 1998. Two years ago I discover that I may actually have a form of MODY or a closely related genetic defect in a transcription factor, HNF4-a, that results in an insulin-sensitive form of Type 2 diabetes.

I currently control my own diabetes using a fairly low carbohydrate diet and very low doses of both basal and meal time
insulin. I rarely eat over 100 grams of carbohydrate a day. When I eat more than 10 grams of carbohydrate I use fast acting insulin. My latest A1c in April of 2008 was 5.7%.
You can read about why doctors often miss a diagnosis of diabetes completely and what MODY diabetes is on the Diagnosing Diabetes Page

I currently weigh 145 lbs. After losing 30 pounds with a low carb diet, I have maintained that weight for many years. My current BMI is within the normal range for my height. At one point I exercised daily for a year and got my body fat down to 24%, which put me into the "Fitness" category for a woman my age. Despite what my doctors had told me, it didn't do a thing for my blood sugars, which got worse.

This raised my curiosity. I started tracking through the research articles available for free on the web. (many of them, now, alas, are no longer free, but I was lucky that I started my research back in 2004 when they were.)

The information I found, much of it differing dramatically from what doctors were telling patients about what caused diabetes and how it should be treated, became the kernel of this web site. My goal was to answer these questions: What do scientists actually know about Type 2 diabetes, why do doctors miss diabetes diagnoses until long after people already have diabetic complications, and what blood sugar levels are truly low enough to prevent further damage to the organs and beta cells?

I learned where the current practice recommendations most doctors follow came from and why they are inadequate to protect people with diabetes from complications. Fortunately, I also found some very solid information about what blood sugar levels seem to be low enough to prevent complications.

Since posting this information, I have heard from literally hundreds of people who have found it useful. I have also written a book, Blood Sugar 101: What They Don't Tell You About Diabetes which presents the most important information you'll find scattered around this site in a clear, brief, well organized manner.

I enjoy hearing from readers of this page. The contact information tab above will give you the email address you can use to reach me.

Besides this site, I also maintain the following diabetes/diet sites on the web: