Delayed publishing due to COVID-19
Welcome Dr. Gary and Tommy Ritz, the first father son diabetic duo interview on the pod!
Gary was diagnosed at 26 while working at an internship in Seattle in 1984, he had the usual symptoms, finally got tested and his BG was 980! Years later, Tommy, was diagnosed at 6 years old, and Gary was able to diagnose him after seeing him chug a big glass of water. His bg was 250 and the rest is history! Their Mom is also an endocrine nurse and they have another brother with T1D. Diabetes runs strong in the Ritz family.
We talk about what it was like growing up with another T1D in the house, and what advantages came along with it, and one of the fun facts that came up is Tommy is the best carb counter in the house.
Gary also talks about some of the parental guilt that came along with passing on the gene to Tommy, and how it sort of eats at him. That brought up something that I don’t often talk about, but my Dad had a really tough time accepting that there was nothing my family could’ve done to prevent me getting Diabetes. It can be really difficult for parents all around, even outside of day to day care.
What is Auxilin?
Like many people with Diabetes, Tommy has struggled with management of high glucose , and was frustrated at how there were a lot of ways to treat hypoglycemia, but not a lot of other treatments besides insulin for Hyperglycemia (and jumping jacks of course). So along with his father and Dr. Jason McEvitt - they set out to create Auxilin.
Auxilin stands for “Augmenting Insulin” to assist insulin in lowering blood sugar
Auxilin eliminates insulin resistance so your insulin works normally. As your blood sugar goes higher, you become more insulin resistant.
How does the science work?
Auxilin works on a hormone that everyone has in their body, which helps with insulin absorption.
Let me know what you think of this interview with a superstar Diabetic family!
