Dr. Bernstein died April 15th at the age of 90. He got type 1 when he was 12, yes, that’s 78 years living with type 1. He’s a special person in my life. Maybe two decades ago I was asked to tape a segment for dLife, a diabetes TV show that ran from 2005 to 2013, at his office in Mamaroneck, NY. The segment was on gastroparesis. To my amazement I discovered I had it, well, he told me, “Almost everyone with type 1 has some amount of gastroparesis.” He thought mine was about 15%.

He’s also a special person to me because reading his book, The Diabetes Solution, caused me to vacuum refined carbs out of my diet. It changed my life with diabetes. It dropped my weight, and my insulin requirement halved. A low carb diet, which I’ve since never wavered from, also makes my blood sugar much easier to manage.

He was also a special person to me because he helped get glucose meters into the hands of people with diabetes. His wife, a nurse, used one in the hospital before any of the larger population had access. With this awareness, he got one for himself and subsequently for all of us. And he’s done so much to help people with type 1 understand their own condition.

I found this article in the UK news, “Diabetes pioneer Dr Richard Bernstein passes away at age of 90”, which is a nice overview of Dr. Bernstein’s life and his impact.

You will be missed.