Walking For A Diabetes Cure: Eleven-year-old Reaches Gorge In Record-setting Walk Across The U.S.

Walking for a diabetes cure: Eleven-year-old reaches Gorge in record-setting walk across the U.S.

NOAH Barnes, 11, and his father Robert, started their 311th day on the road near Maryhill Winery Thursday and planned to make at least 17 miles that day along Washington State Route 14. They decided to travel the Washington side of the Columbia River because there would be less traffic than Interstate 84.
Noah Barnes, 11, has burned through more shoes than other kids his age this year — he’s on his 11th pair — but then, none of his peers are about to become the youngest person on record to walk across America.
On Thursday, Barnes and his father, Robert, could be seen along Washington State Route 14 near Wishram, the 311th day of their more than 4,200-mile journey.
They took a short break to talk with a Chronicle reporter about the expedition that began in Key West, Fla., in early January and ends Dec. 9 in Blaine, Wash.
Rob Denning from Immense Imagery captured video footage of the interview, which will be posted on the businesses’ Facebook page, as well as the Chronicle website, www.thedalleschronicle.com.
When the long trek is finished, Noah will have walked from the farthest southeastern point of the United States to its farthest northeastern point, yet another record.
“Less than 300 people have crossed the U.S. on foot since they started tracking these journeys,” said Robert.
Setting a new record isn’t what drives Noah to get up every day and walk 17 to 22 miles or more. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 16 months old and has lived with insulin shots most of his life.
He longs for the day that needles and testing his blood sugar level multi Continue reading

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2017 National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support

By the most recent estimates, 30.3 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. An estimated 23.1 million have been diagnosed with diabetes and 7.2 million are believed to be living with undiagnosed diabetes. At the same time, 84.1 million people are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Thus, more than 114 million Americans are at risk for developing the devastating complications of diabetes (1).
Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) is a critical element of care for all people with diabetes. DSMES is the ongoing process of facilitating the knowledge, skills, and ability necessary for diabetes self-care, as well as activities that assist a person in implementing and sustaining the behaviors needed to manage his or her condition on an ongoing basis, beyond or outside of formal self-management training. In previous National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (Standards), DSMS and DSME were defined separately, but these Standards aim to reflect the value of ongoing support and multiple services.
The Standards define timely, evidence-based, quality DSMES services that meet or exceed the Medicare diabetes self-management training (DSMT) regulations, however, these Standards do not guarantee reimbursement. These Standards provide evidence for all diabetes self-management education providers including those that do not plan to seek reimbursement for DSMES. The current Standards’ evidence clearly identifies the need to provide person-centered services that embrace the ever-increasing technological engagement platforms and systems. The hop Continue reading

Diabetes Remission Possible With Significant Weight Loss: DiRECT

Individuals with type 2 diabetes who lose a significant amount of weight through a strict dietary intervention can send their diabetes into remission, according to the results of a new study.
Nearly half of individuals who adhered to the primary care-led program for weight management no longer had type 2 diabetes at 12 months, with remission rates even higher among those who lost more weight. Among individuals who lost 15 kg or more, for example, 86% had a remission of their diabetes.
“People with type 2 diabetes can get rid of it if they’re serious enough, but they need ongoing support and buy-in from their families if they’re going to keep the weight off and keep diabetes away long-term,” senior investigator Roy Taylor, MD (Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England), told TCTMD. “The important thing is that physicians can relearn about type 2 diabetes and explain to people that it’s possible for them to get out of it. They don’t need to live with this threat to their eyes, their feet, their nerves.”
In an editorial, Matti Uusitupa, MD (University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio), calls the study findings “impressive,” saying they “strongly support the view that type 2 diabetes is tightly associated with excessive fat mass in the body.” These results, along with other studies of type 2 diabetes prevention, Uusitupa adds, “indicate that weight loss should be the primary goal” of treatment.
Darren McGuire, MD (UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX), who was not involved in the study, said the findings were “quite striking,” particular Continue reading

Diabetes and the A1C Test: What Does It Tell You?

The A1C test (also known as HbA1C, glycated hemoglobin
or glycosylated hemoglobin) is a good general measure of diabetes care. While conventional home glucose monitoring measures a person’s blood sugar at a given moment, A1C levels indicate a person’s average blood glucose level over the past few months.
Understanding A1C Numbers
For a person without diabetes, a typical A1C level is about 5 percent.
For someone with diabetes, experts disagree somewhat on what the A1C target should be. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends an A1C target of less than or equal to 7 percent. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists recommends a level of 6.5 percent or below.
The ADA also emphasizes that A1C goals should be individualized. Those with diabetes should check with a healthcare professional to learn what their A1C targets should be. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that, in general, every percentage point drop in an A1C blood test results (e.g., from 8 percent to 7 percent) reduces the risk of eye, kidney and nerve disease by 40 percent.
The chart below shows what the A1C means in terms of average blood glucose levels. An average blood glucose of 150 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) translates into an A1C of about 7 percent. This is above normal, given that a diagnosis of diabetes is usually given when blood sugar levels reach about 126 mg/dL.
Note that the A1C is not the same as the estimated average glucose (eAG), which is the two to three-month average in mg/dL, but the A1C directly correlates to the eAG. When you are testing your blood su Continue reading

High and rising: Patients concerned by cost of diabetes

For the 29 million people battling diabetes across the U.S., the financial burden of treating the disease is already high – and rising.
After a 10News investigation in February dug into the varying costs of prescription medications, several people reached out asking us to look into the cost of diabetes. We did – and found several families struggling to make ends meet among the 600,000 diabetic Tennesseans.
Mindy Tayeh, of Knoxville, is one of those people. Every time she opens her fridge, she’s very careful with what’s kept in the door – the vials of insulin to treat her Type 1 diabetes.
“It sucks something so little is so expensive,” said Tayeh.
Tayeh developed diabetes as a teenager. Because of that, she’s struggled to get affordable insurance, and has been paying for her healthcare out of pocket.
“I haven’t had insurance in eight years,” she said.
She takes an insulin called NovoLog. Five vials set her back about $1000 every month. Then she needs to purchase blood sugar test strips, needles, and emergency injector, pump supplies -- between that and her lupus medication, she’s putting up $2000 a month.
“I mean everything I have goes to me, my diabetes,” said the mother of three. “It’s not fair to my kids.”
And that has left her with a question:
“I was just curious if there are other people out there having to pay like I do,” said Tayeh.
10News found that answer, to some extent, is yes.
“Last year my prescription out of pocket was $5287,” said Catherine Peterson, of Crossville. “That is a third of my income. That’s just my pres Continue reading