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Hanna Diabetes Expert

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Hanna Diabetes Expert

As a patient leader, international speaker, and consultant, I’m passionate about improving patient centricity in health care.

I hold an MSc in Diabetes and has a background in nutrition and coaching. I’m a keynote speaker, author & researcher (too).

24/04/2026

📏 Your waist might be saying more about your heart ♥️ than your weight ever did…

A new long-term study (19 year!) in journal Diabetes Care looked at people with type 1 diabetes for 19 years, and found something interesting:

It’s not necessarily about how much you weigh.
👉 It’s rather where you carry it.

The key metric used in the study? Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR).

Here’s what’s up:
• A WHtR ≥ 0.5 = higher risk zone
• People in this range had ~2–3x higher risk of coronary artery disease over time
• Risk increased stepwise (every small increase in ratio mattered)
• Even people without kidney disease (often seen as “lower risk”) were affected!

So, you can have a “normal BMI”, and still carry higher cardiovascular risk.

Why this matters (especially in T1D):
👉🏼 Central fat (around your organs) is metabolically active → drives inflammation → impacts heart health.

And the simplest takeaway?
Keep your waist circumference less than half your height.

No fancy tech. Just a tape measure and awareness. Sometimes the most powerful health signals are the simplest ones. 💪🏼

19/04/2026

To mark European Patients’ Rights Day, VIA Diabetes asked me to share a few thoughts on patients right and what they mean to me.

What are your thoughts? 🤔

Thank you to team VIA Diabetes! 🙏

04/04/2026

Not my comfort zone. But really bot that far from it either.

Yet, just enough to notice things feel different.

Different language. Different pace. The same life that is just lived a little wider. And even if we all know that diabetes loves routines ❣️ it’s good to get out of them sometimes, too. 🙏

Turns out you don’t need a big leap to change your perspective.

Just a small step you almost talked yourself out of. 👀

Madrid, I like this version.

26/03/2026

FROM DETECTION → CURE: the future of diabetes is being built NOW 🚀

At the IDF Europe Symposium at ATTD 2026 in Barcelona, the message was that we already have the tools. What we need now is ACTION. 🔥

Some takeaways:

👉🏼 Early detection changes everything
Up to ~40% of people are still diagnosed in DKA, with serious consequences (brain swelling, kidney injury, long-term cognitive impact).

Screening = earlier diagnosis, fewer emergencies, better outcomes.

👉🏼 Lived experience matters
Data alone isn’t enough. Emotional and psychological support must be part of care, already from day 1.

👉🏼 Prediabetes ≠ “mild”
It carries a real cardiovascular risk.
But here’s the hopeful part: remission is possible.

👉🏼 Technology as a behavior change tool
CGM isn’t just for insulin users.
It’s a real-time mirror of how food and movement impact your body → driving awareness, motivation, and healthier choices.

👉🏼 Policy can’t wait
Equity. Registries. Education. Evaluation. Participation.
We don’t need more vision statements. We need implementation. 💪🏼

👉🏼 The “Safe Hearts Plan” = prevention + early detection + long-term care. A promising roadmap we should already be acting on. 👀

✨ So, my biggest takeaway is that we are no longer talking about if we can change outcomes in diabetes, but how fast we’re willing to act.

The moment is now. ⏳

20/03/2026

Being able to attend conferences like is amazing for several reasons - networking with peers, hearing the latest & greatest in research, exploring the exhibition space, along with enjoying local cuisine ( 😋), new destinations and insights. To name a few. 👀

Yet, it’s always all about the people. 🫶🏼 Meeting known and not-yet-known friends, sharing, laughing, discussing, collaborating… Friendship. Community. Belonging. 💙

Gracias Barcelona for reminding me. 🙏 ✨

17/03/2026

🚨 ATTD 2026 Takeaway 1 (yes, here they come!! 🤩🤪)

Type 1 Diabetes is no longer something we wait for, we can find it early.

At the session “Screening and Treatment Options for Delaying Onset of Type 1 Diabetes” at ATTD 2026, one message was super clear:

👉 Screening for type 1 diabetes is no longer just research. It’s becoming reality.

Here’s what I took away:

🔬 Early detection is the goal
The clinical target is now Stage 2 T1D, before symptoms, before crisis.

⏳ Timing matters
Intervention only starts once dysglycaemia appears (but identifying risk earlier changes everything!).

❤️ Early diagnosis can:
• reduce morbidity & mortality
• prevent life-threatening complications at onset (DKA)
• give people and families time to prepare

🧠 Screening helps us to:
• map the natural history of pre-T1D
• better understand immunopathogenesis
• identify candidates for prevention trials

🌍 The burden of T1D is rising fast, with prevalence in the U.S. projected to reach 5 million by 2050, alongside significant healthcare costs and reduced life expectancy.

⚙️ To make screening scalable, we need:
• smart clinical workflows
• sustainable funding models
• strong network support

💡 My reflection is that we are shifting from reacting to type 1 diabetes → predicting and potentially delaying it.

That’s a fundamental change in how we think about this condition. 💡

16/02/2026

🧬 Stem cells & diabetes — where are we really?

A 2026 review in Diabetes & Metabolism looked at the major clinical trials investigating stem cell–based therapies for diabetes. This is a fast-paced field! 🚀

In summary: 🤓

✨ The goal: Restore insulin production or protect remaining beta cells. To move beyond lifelong insulin therapy. 🎯

🔬 Main approaches:
• Embryonic & induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) → turned into insulin-producing cells and transplanted
• Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) → don’t make insulin, but may reduce inflammation and support beta cells
• Encapsulation devices → aim to protect transplanted cells from immune attack (without lifelong immunosuppression)

🚀 Big developments:
• Programs like Vertex’s VX-880 (zimislecel) have shown restored insulin production and major reductions in insulin needs in early trials.
• Some participants have achieved insulin independence (but most approaches still require immunosuppression).
• Autologous (derived from the person) stem cell strategies are emerging.

⚠️ Remaining challenges:
• Immune rejection
• Need for immunosuppression
• Long-term safety (tumor risk)
• Device durability & vascularization
• Scalability & cost

📌 Bottom line:
Stem cell therapy for diabetes is no longer science fiction. It’s clinically real, but still quite far from routine care. The next few years will be critical.

For those of us living with type 1 diabetes, this is one of the most closely watched frontiers in medicine. 👀

08/01/2026

💙 40 years of T1D 💙

Last month (last year!) marked my 40th diaversary. This is a b i g milestone that I’m finally ready to celebrate openly.

40 years of daily decisions & invisible work. 40 years of adapting, learning, recalibrating. 40 years of living a full life with type 1 diabetes, and not despite it.

This isn’t about perfection or heroism. It’s about showing up. Again and again.

Today I’m celebrating endurance, progress, community, and the lived experience that shapes who I am, personally and professionally.

Still here. Still curious. Still deeply grateful for the people, and systems, that make living well possible.

To many, many more. ✨

💙 If you’ve walked a long road with diabetes (or another condition), this celebration is for you too.

17/12/2025

How do blood sugar extremes shape your brain function? 🤔

We’re only beginning to understand how glucose extremes affect cognitive function.

New research shows that both low and high glucose levels affect your brain in different ways.

The paper Glucose Extremes and Cognitive Function (Diabetes Spectrum, 2025) reviews evidence on how very low (hypoglycemia) and high (hyperglycemia) blood glucose levels affect brain function in people with type 1 diabetes.

Key takeaways from the review:

• When glucose dips too low → the brain’s energy supply gets cut, leading to slower thinking, trouble with memory & decision-making.
• When glucose spikes too high → blood vessels and neurotransmitter systems get stressed, which can also slow processing and affect attention.
• These effects aren’t only momentary. Repeated extremes can change brain structure and cognitive abilities (memory, attention, executive function, and processing speed) over time.
• Tools like CGM could help protect your brain beyond what A1C can tell us.

What’s especially important? Cognitive health should be part of diabetes care to help preserve healthy bodies and healthy brains. 🧠 💙

10/12/2025

💌 Postcard from Bangkok 🇹🇭✨

Traveling reminds me how powerful it is to let go every now and then. 🙏

To switch things up. Context, culture (appreciate, not appropriate), routines, foods, languages, lessons, even time zones.

There’s something freeing about stepping out of your usual patterns. You see yourself more clearly. You notice what actually matters. This trip is a beautiful reminder that magic happens outside your comfort zone!

And yes… choosing not to go to even while being “around the corner” comes with a mix of FOMO and JOMO… But also a reminder that rest, perspective and presence are part of the work, too. 🤍

#

04/12/2025

Are we blaming people for a food system they can’t control? 🤔

A powerful new article in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology highlights a reality that affects all of us.

Kevin Hall, one of the world’s leading nutrition scientists, recently left the US National Institutes of Health after saying his research on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) was censored.
 Why? Because his findings challenged the popular “UPF addiction = dopamine hits like drugs” narrative. His latest study showed that most people don’t get the dramatic dopamine spikes we’ve been told about. Meaning the story of UPFs is more complex than “our brains are addicted to sugar”.

But the real takeaway is bigger than dopamine.

Hall and journalist Julia Belluz, in their book “Food Intelligence”, show how our food environment shapes our choices far more than individual willpower ever could:

• Ultra-processed foods are cheap, everywhere, and aggressively marketed. • Whole foods are often unaffordable. You can get 12 donuts for $0.99 vs four apples for $9. • Industry incentives aren’t aligned with human, animal, or environmental health. • And people living with obesity end up carrying the stigmatized blame for a system they didn’t build.

This matters for health. It also matters for equity.
 When healthy options are inaccessible, blaming individuals is not only unhelpful, it’s not fair.

If we want better outcomes, we must look at what shapes them. Food environments = health outcomes. You can’t expect people to achieve long-term health if the system makes nutritious choices unrealistic or unaffordable. Value, when talking about healthcare, is created long before a person walks into a clinic, in their daily reality.
 Right now, those crucial, health-maintaining options are working against people, not for them.

If we’re serious about healthcare and disease prevention, we must improve the food systems people live in. Because no amount of motivation or education can overcome an environment designed to undermine health.

We deserve policies, incentives, and environments that support better outcomes. For us all. 💚

26/11/2025

Should people with lived experience have a seat at every table? 🤔

If you’ve been here a while… you already know my thoughts on this. 😉💙

That’s why I’m incredibly excited to share that I’ll be speaking at health.tech | global summit 2026 — and also hosting one of the stages on Day 2! 🤩

We’ll dive into a topic that’s close to my heart: ➡️ How do we meaningfully strengthen patient engagement across healthcare and research?

Because engaging patients once is not enough.
True progress requires continuous collaboration, transparency, and making sure the patient/lived experience voice is heard at every stage, from clinical studies and medicine development to provider visits, system design, and healthcare events.

If this is a conversation you care about too, I’d love to see you there. 🙌🏼

📍 3–5 March 2026 | Basel, Switzerland

Let’s make the future of healthcare more human, together. 💫

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