The Senses We Rely On: Aging with Type 1 Diabetes
Our senses—sight, hearing, touch, even taste—help us navigate the world, connect with others, and stay safe. But with age and Type 1 diabetes in the mix, they don’t always work like they used to. This section explores how our senses may shift over time, what’s normal, what’s not, and how to adapt without missing a beat (or a flavor).
Smell Loss
How honing your sense of smell can improve your cognition as you age.
Hearing Loss
A summary of how hearing loss is correlated with T1D and a few external articles on the subject.
People with Vision and Hearing Loss Call for Better Tech
An article on diabetes tech for people who have vision and hearing loss.
Last updated 2025-07-15
Recent Stories
The Wit and Wisdom of Fran Carpentier: 57 Years with Type 1 Diabetes
“I think that my first husband felt that I made life hard for us. I couldn’t be as spontaneous as he probably wanted me to be. You know this was pre-insulin pumps and CGMs. We were young, he wanted to go out and do things and I felt I had to do things a certain way to keep my sugar really well-controlled. I think I’m the most fun person in the room, but he felt that I was a wet blanket. There was probably truth to it forty years ago. Today, technology has freed up life for us T1Ds. Of course that freedom means relying on all manner of medical apparatus and being visible about it.”
Museum curator, 77, Learns Gen Z (AAVE) Slang and Goes Viral: “Honestly, she ate.”
The National Gallery of Art’s deputy head of sculpture stepped behind a 16th-century urn and began to describe it to the camera. “Chat, I’m about to buss it down Roman Empire style,” said Alison Luchs, 77, using Gen Z slang she recently learned. “Haters will say this urn is mid, but they don’t know we’ve clocked its tea.”
Aging with T1D: In Living Color
Haidee Merrit is a New Hampshire-based artist best known in theT1D community as a cartoonist whose three books of diabetes-themed cartoons and illustrations share a humorous, and often edgy, take on life as a type one. She is also a colorful artist whose works are vibrant and lively, often featuring vividly detailed insects or splashy abstract landscapes. She met with us at T1Dto100 to talk about what led her to her specific art forms and her philosophy about living with T1D.