“Diabetes teaches you a lot of amazing life
lessons,” says Adam Brown. “For instance,
how do you cope with unpredictability?
You can do the same thing two days in a
row and get completely different results.
Diabetes teaches you resilience.”
When he was diagnosed with diabetes
in 2001, Brown had no idea what lessons
lay ahead. Just 12 years old, he wouldn’t get
a handle on his blood sugars until he went
away to college. There, nutrition courses
showed him the importance of food to
his health. A bodybuilding roommate
taught him the power of discipline. His
first continuous glucose monitor helped
him to understand his own physiology.
And a summer internship at a diabetes-
focused health care information firm led
to a career helping others deal with their
own unpredictability.
After graduating in 2011, Brown
began writing for diaTribe.org, a website
that provides information and advice for
people with diabetes. He’s now the senior
editor at diaTribe, where his column, Ad-
am’s Corner, has provided what he calls
“tools”—actionable tips and insights—
to more than 1 million people. “My goal
is to have the biggest possible tool kit to
attack this crazy, complicated, dynamic,
24/7 disease,” he says. “With everything
I write, I think about improving time-in-
range and reducing the burden of manag-
ing diabetes. Great diabetes tools and tips
do both of those things.”
Perhaps the greatest tool Brown has
created is his book, Bright Spots & Land-
mines. It aims to help readers identify and
replicate bright spots—the habits and
attitudes that really work—while alsonavigating diabetes “landmines,” those
factors and events that cause blood sugar
swings. “In diabetes, we naturally tend
to focus on what’s wrong and fixing mis-
takes,” he says. “But we rarely ask, what
am I doing right? What should I do more
often? I think you need both modes of
thinking to optimize your diabetes.”
Since its publication in 2017, more
than 125,000 copies of Bright Spots &
Landmines have been distributed. dia-
Tribe makes it available as a free PDF
download (diaTribe.org/BrightSpots), an
at-cost paperback, and a free audiobook
(diaTribe.org/BrightSpotsAudio). “I’m
proud we’ve created a useful resource
and made it truly accessible,” Brown says.
“Education is a diabetes superpower, and
we should do everything possible to make
sure knowledge gets into people’s hands.”Champions