As people with diabetes, we are tasked by our medical teams with conducting our lives in a manner such as to minimize or mitigate the destructive effects of our medical condition. A lot of press is given to the concepts of "patient compliance" and "patient adherence" -- enough to raise the blood pressures of many of us past the levels covered by our antihypertensive, renal-protective pharmaceuticals. The idea of being "a diabetic in control" (or "out of control") has also been known to raise the hackles of a number of the T1s among us, whose blood glucose levels vary with the tempo and dynamic (but none of the grace) of a Mahler symphony.
Like the four movements of a symphony, or the members of a string quartet, the cornerstones of diabetes self-care are:
