An NYT article on a pair of long-lived diabetic brothers, 86 and 90, respectively – both men contracted the disease as children – notes the relative paucity of long lives among Type I diabetics:

“They’re a little bit obsessive about their records and their diets,” said Dr. George L. King, research director of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and a professor at Harvard Medical School. He heads a study of people who have lived with diabetes for at least 50 years — more than 400 of them, so far.



They arrive at the center, he said, carrying “years and years of records, sometimes decades,” showing medical tests, blood sugar readings, insulin doses, exercise, even daily food consumption. “Most of them do quite a bit of exercise, they are more careful about their health than even most diabetics, and they also have a very positive outlook.”

Hm. I can’t describe Viv as obsessive, and she’s not 50 yet by a long shot; but there’s no way she won’t see it. She certainly does a great job with maintenance and has a great attitude.

Four hundred? She’s rarer than I’d have thought. We’re both lucky!