Diabetes: An Opportunity To Have A Lasting Impact On Health Through Lifestyle Modification

Diabetes: An Opportunity to Have a Lasting Impact on Health Through Lifestyle Modification

Diabetes: An Opportunity to Have a Lasting Impact on Health Through Lifestyle Modification
Hena N. Patel, MD; Andrew M. Freeman, MD, FACC; and Kim A. Williams MD, FACC
Can Yoga, Mindfulness Fit With Managed Care?
Evidence-Based Diabetes Management > March 2017 Published on: March 03, 2017
Diabetes: An Opportunity to Have a Lasting Impact on Health Through Lifestyle Modification
Hena N. Patel, MD; Andrew M. Freeman, MD, FACC; and Kim A. Williams MD, FACC
Three cardiologists, including the 2015-2016 president of the American College of Cardiology, review the evidence in support of lifestyle modification for diabetes management or remission.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a costly chronic illness that is increasing in prevalence and associated with significant health problems, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).1 In fact, CVD is listed as the cause of death in nearly 65% of individuals with diabetes.2
Historically, T2D was labeled a coronary artery disease equivalentin light of the 7-year risk of myocardial infarction (MI) equaling that of a person without diabetes who is post-MI3 in the restatin-treatment era and the marked improvement in adverse cardiac events with statin therapy.4 Given this grave prognosis, and with longstanding work showing diabetes remission from lifestyle interventions as far back as the 1940s,5there is no better and more economical way to treat this epidemic.
Diabetes and CVD share multiple modifiable lifestyle risk factors, such as obesity and physical inactivity, that tend to comingle for many adults, adding to the threat of severe advers Continue reading

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What You'd be Shocked to Learn You Can Eat with Diabetes

What You'd be Shocked to Learn You Can Eat with Diabetes
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What You'd be Shocked to Learn You Can Eat with Diabetes
Its a beautiful, sunny Saturday, and you're at a good friends BBQ birthday gathering. On the picnic table sits a big bucket of chips and dip, then several courses of grill-food galore, and the finale, a glowing, ooey gooey chocolate birthday cake. If someone told you that you couldn't have any of those things, how would you feel?
You'd probably be disappointed, and feel compelled want it even more than if someone told you that you could eat to your heart's content. Its human nature. And, it's a challenge that many people with diabetes face every single day.
But this doesn't have to be the case, according to Erica Hechler, a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator at the Florida Hospital Diabetes Institute.
People with diabetes can eat all foods in a healthy way, says Hechler. This disease shouldn't keep you from enjoying a variety of foods and especially the ones you love! she adds.
No foods are off-limits for people with diabetes; they key is working with a Registered Dietitian to better understand how certain foods can affect blood sugar levels and how to include them in their meal plan in moderation in a healthy way, advises Hechler.
She explains further, Talking to people with diabetes about how to choose foods can help reduce negative feeling surrounding foods. Instead of just providing a list of foods people can and can't eat we help people with Continue reading

Hard Rock Pins, just because

Posted by Rick Phillips on May 19, 2017 in General | 10 comments
Today is the fifth day of Diabetes Blog week. Each day we have a prompt and are called to post a response. You can read all responses at my friend Karens site Bitter~Sweet . Also, please remember RABlog week will occur in September. I hope you join the fun then as well.
Lets wrap up the week by sharing a little more about ourselves, beyond the chronic illness we or our loved ones live with. Share an interest, hobby, passion, something that is YOU. If you want to explore how it relates to or helps with diabetes you can. Or let it be a part of you that is completely separate from diabetes because there is more to life than just diabetes! (This topic is a suggestion from the 2016 #DBlogWeek survey.)
I come from a family of collectors of silly things. The collection bug was best exemplified by my father who at some point decided to collect matchbook covers. Dad could not explain his collection, why he did it or what the end game would be. He understood they had no real value, but his collection was not about value. It was about things. He collected these for several years and then cold turkey, it was over. He no longer had interest. The collection at the end numbered a few thousand, all sorted and categorized in perfect, pristine form. There it sat for years. An object of great passion for a time but my dad ultimately grew tired of it. At the end of his life, he called his grandsons together and said this is now yours and he divided them up. No thought was given if they wanted them or not, I was wily enough Continue reading

The Big Interview – Dr Trudi Deakin

Dr Trudi Deakin is well known for writing the X-PERT Programmes, which are based upon the theories of empowerment, discovery learning and patient-centred care for type 2 diabetes.
People with diabetes see a healthcare professional for around three hours each year and have to spend the remaining 8,757 hours self-managing their condition.
Also a research dietitian Dr Deakin has written books on low-carb eating which she recommends is an important part of diabetes control.
What’s been your biggest achievement?
Developing, implementing and evaluating the X-PERT Programme and demonstrating that it is making a difference to the health and wellbeing of people with pre diabetes and diabetes (newly diagnosed and established) throughout the UK and Ireland.
The start of the journey was recognition (whilst working as a NHS registered dietitian) that people did not understand diabetes or have the knowledge, skills and confidence to successfully self-manage it.
This led to instigating focus groups with groups of patients to ascertain what information they wanted and how they would like this information to be delivered. I developed the X-PERT Diabetes Programme as part of my doctorate to meet identified needs and evaluated it with a clinical trial.
The results demonstrated highly statistically significant improvements in clinical, lifestyle and psychosocial outcomes. It was an honour to be awarded the Secretary of States Award titled Excellence in Healthcare Management for driving forward diabetes services and making a difference to the lives of people with diabetes.
Thus provided the c Continue reading

Wasting Money on Diabetes Education That Fails to Teach the Right Things

What is a bit shocking, however, is that this expansion of diabetes is happening right in the midst of some of the best academic and research health institutions in the country. Texas is home to MD Anderson Cancer Center , Baylor College of Medicine , UT Health Science Center , Memorial Hermann Hospital , The Methodist Hospital , Texas Childrens Hospital , and University of Houston College of Pharmacy .
On the other hand, the fact is that Texas is not very different than other states in America. We have become a nation of diabetics! One in 4 adults over 65 in the US is already diabetic and 1 in 3 over age 20 is prediabetic. By 2050, one-third of all Americans could be diabetic!!!
So why is this $2 million research grant not such good news?
The Third Ward, one of the six historic wards of Houston, is a predominantly African American community of over 13,000 people as of 2011. The program envisioned in this grant is to take education and treatment out into the Third Ward by 1) establishing a community advisory group, 2) conducting health fairs at different locations, 3) offering lessons on how to live and eat healthier, and 4) screening to detect susceptible individuals early. The objectives are to treat those who already have and to prevent others from getting it, according to Ezemenari Obasi, director of the HEALTH institute. (The name of this institute is an acronym for Helping Everyone Achieve a Lifetime of Health.)
My answer is: it depends on what it is educating people about, and if it has any effect. And if you look at the rising epidemic of diabetes, it appears Continue reading