Surprising Interview with a Joslin Researcher
Dr. Richard Jackson



Dr. Jackson has the dubious title of "Director of Field Outreach, Strategic Initiatives,"
but his personal passion is talking with patients about how diabetes affects their life.
For new patients, his biggest edict is, "You are not doomed. People with diabetes are
doing better and better all the time."
"When patients come in I ask, "How are you doing?" Often they slump down in their seats
and say, "I don"t know." So I say, "NO, how are you doing?"" he told me. The point is: How
do you feel? Physically? Mentally? The only way to achieve well-being is to be in touch
with your own state of affairs, this doctor says.
Here are Dr. Jackson"s top tips for getting a handle on your own diabetes and getting
the most out of your doctor/educator visits, as he related them to me this week:

Find Out Where You Are
Start out by getting your numbers: your A1C (at least every 3 months), and your blood
pressure, cholesterol, and microalbumin test results (all annually). Also, make sure you
see an opthamologist annually to be armed with the data on your eye health. Never go in
to see your diabetes doctor without knowing what your health starting point is, Jackson
says, or the visit will be unproductive. And don"t get caught up on some stringent
number-goals. Some people do quite well with A1C"s of 7+, or even up to 9, he says.

Decide What to Focus On.
It is ridiculous to think you have to tackle everything at once. Look at your health
records, and decide which ONE or TWO things you will work on in the coming months.
Instead of making vague resolutions like, "I"ll eat better," focus on very specific things
like lowering your A1C by checking more often so that you can react immediately to
highs. Or maybe you"ll focus on blood pressure instead of the diabetes-specific stuff. "If
a Type 2 gets his/her blood pressure down from 150 to 140, they can gain as much
health-wise as by lowering their A1C," the doctor says.
Amy Tenderich
At this weekend"s annual ADA Conference, I had the privilege to sit
for an hour just chewing the fat (or, um, chatting...) about the
state of diabetes care with Dr. Richard Jackson of the