The purpose of this page is to help the families and friends of those with diabetes to understand better how to relate to a diabetic and how to treat someone who's been diagnosed. The most important advice I'd give to anyone who has just learned that someone they know has diabetes is to avoid going to either extreme in your relationship with that person. Just because someone's a diabetic does not mean they're made of glass. And becoming a diabetic isn't something that brings about instant responsibility and independence either.
Diabetics are normal people.
But before you can learn how to understand people with diabetes, you should know a little bit about the disease itself.