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So many have reached out to check in on us and we appreciate your outpouring of love and support.
Diabetes Education Services is open and ready to serve. Our office is located in Chico, CA which is about 10 miles west of Paradise and the Camp Fire.
Coach Beverly and Anne are safe and sound and determined to keep moving forward and provide services to our Diabetes Education Community.
As you have heard on the news, the town of Paradise and surrounding areas have been completely devastated.
Most of the homes and businesses are gone and there is only scorched earth in its place.
For twenty years, I have driven up the hill to Paradise on Tuesdays, to run the diabetes program at Adventist Health, Feather River Hospital.
I loved that small community hospital, all the patients I get to work with and our amazing diabetes education staff. Together, we built an ADA Recognized Diabetes Program, a thriving support group and we launched a wildly popular Diabetes Prevention Program in January 2018.
Very sadly, the hospital is partially burnt down and many of the surrounding clinics are completely gone. It is a miracle that the courageous nurses and hospital staff were able to evacuate all the patients to safety while fire was raging all around them. They are such amazing heroes and I am forever thankful for their courage and dedication.
The future of our Diabetes Education and Prevention Program is unknown, but we will figure out a way to provide this critical service to our community in the near future. I am very worried about several of my patients whom I have known for years and have become such an important part of my life. I hope to hear from them soon.
So many of you have asked how you can help. Most people fled their home with only the clothes on their back and their pets. The shelters are overwhelmed with food and clothing donations.
What is needed now is donations to emergency relief funds.
Here are a few reputable organizations that you can feel good contributing to knowing that the funds will get to the people who need it most.
Thank you again for all your kindness and concern!
With love,
Coach Beverly & Anne
Florence Nightingale believed that letting sunlight into hospitals had health benefits for patients. Looks like she may be right!
Research conducted by the University of Oregon, compared sun exposure in multiple different rooms for 90 days. Turns out grandma was right, letting sunshine in can help keep you healthy, or at least kill harmful bacteria.
“Rooms exposed to daylight have fewer germs. In fact, the study showed that the lit rooms had about half the viable bacteria (those that are able to grow), compared with dark rooms. Rooms that were exposed only to UV light had just slightly less viable bacteria than ones exposed to daylight.”
This study gives us new insight on the correlation between daylight and bacterial count indoors. Considering we spend so much time inside, this could have big impacts on how we design our homes and commercial spaces to help optimize the health of our community.
Now we are able to say “daylighting” a room has an impact on air quality, even killing certain microbiomes that are tied to respiratory disease. This might have future implications for the design of hospitals and health care clinics. Take home message; If you can, let the light in!
To learn more: Grandma Was Right: Sunshine Helps Kill Germs Indoors – NPR
Happy Veterans Day and we will never forget!
Our Diabetes Detective Team scans the diabetes news to discover the most relevant info that Diabetes Educators need in their daily practice. We post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE! Sign up below!
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A study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that individuals who consume more organic foods have a decreased risk of developing cancer. The study found that eating organic especially decreases risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma in comparison those who did not.
Researchers assessed the diets of 68,946 adults in France. Nearly 3/4 of participants were women in their mid-40s. Subjects were separated into four separate groups based off of their consumption of organic foods including “fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, ready-to-eat meals, vegetable oils and condiments, dietary supplements, and other products.”
Out of the 68,946 subjects, 1,340 developed some form of cancer. The most prevalent for this group of subjects was breast cancer with 459 individuals developing it at the end of the 4.5 year period. 180 subjects were diagnosed with prostate cancer, 135 with skin cancer, 99 with colorectal cancer and 47 with non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
Researchers found that there was a “negative relationship between high scores (eating the most organic food) and overall cancer risk.” Individuals who scored high in organic food consumption decreased their risk of developing cancer by 25%. They were also 73% less likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma and decreased risk of developing breast cancer by 21%. Individuals with low-moderate organic food intake still demonstrated a decreased risk in developing various forms of cancer.
The authors on the study believe that decreased risk may be due to reduction of contamination of food. Further research on the topic may be reason enough to promote consumption of organic food as a preventative health strategy to decrease risk of cancer.
To learn more about consumption of organic food and decreased risk of cancer, visit “Cut Your Cancer Risk by Eating Organic.”
You can also join our “Cancer and Diabetes” online webinar to learn more:
Cancer and Diabetes – 1.5 CEs | $29
Sign up for Diabetes Blog Bytes – we post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE! Sign up below!
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November Newsletter is here!by Coach Beverly
Beverly Thomassian, RN, MPH, CDCES®, BC-ADM
November Newsletter now available!
The theme of this Diabetes Month Celebration focuses on the family unit. Families play an active role in preventing diabetes, supporting each other in making healthier choices and coaching each other to keep moving forward! Articles include:
Click here to read our newsletter!
Our Diabetes Detective Team scans the diabetes news to discover the most relevant info that Diabetes Educators need in their daily practice. We post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE! Sign up below!
[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]Click here to take the question of the week >> November 6th, 2018!
Our Diabetes Detective Team scans the diabetes news to discover the most relevant info that Diabetes Educators need in their daily practice. We post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE! Sign up below!
Sign Up for Diabetes Blog Bytes Today
Do you know the best way to prepare for the CDCES exam? Want more questions like this? Really test your knowledge and prepare with our 1-Year Subscription, with over 34 online courses and 49.35 CEs.
You can also download our free CDCES Coach App!
We apologize for the inconvenience, please enjoy other recent Blog Byte:
Recent Blog Bytes:Mindful Monday | Daylight Savings – Tips to stay healthy during the dark days
Diabetes and Obesity Increase Flu Risk – Vaccinations Save Lives
Free Resource Friday – Preparing for the CDCES Exam Webinar!
Happy Diabetes Month – Toolkits and Resources
Don’t Be Spooked by Leftover Halloween Candy – 7 Strategies
With our digital clocks now automatically adjusting, technology seems to have made daylight savings pretty easy on us. However, we can’t say the same for our internal clocks.
Scientists have discovered that the time shift can actually be detrimental to our overall health. In addition to the master clock in our brains, every cell has a “time-keeping mechanism” helping us regulate important functions in the body such as metabolism and sleep.
Because our bodies are hard-wired to to synchronize with the 24 hour cycle, the time shift can have a big influence on mental and physical health.
Scientists have discovered that the shift in time can cause an increased risk of heart attacks, affect mood, alter our diets and increase rates of traffic accidents.
Luckily, NPR has shared a few tips on how to prepare for the shorter days ahead and keep your physical and mental health in mind:
To learn more, please enjoy: We Just ‘Fell Back’ An Hour. Here Are Tips To Stay Healthy During Dark Days Ahead – NPR
Our Diabetes Detective Team scans the diabetes news to discover the most relevant info that Diabetes Educators need in their daily practice. We post one daily Blog Byte from Monday to Friday. And of course, Tuesday is our Question of the Week. It’s Informative and FREE! Sign up below!
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Research conducted by the University of Queensland has shown that the increased prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes and above target weight, will cause more hospitalizations if there is a major flu outbreak.
A factor contributing to this likelihood, is that people who are above target weight or have diabetes, are more likely to get the flu. Plus, this same group is often antibiotic resistant. Which means they may not respond to antibiotics if they get a secondary infection. This can turn a mild flu season into a severe outbreak.
Individuals who are obese or have diabetes “are more likely to be hospitalised or die from the flu,” though it is not yet fully understood why this is the case. These conditions may have a significant affect on immune response which protects against foreign virus’. The inability to fight off a virus may cause a rapid spread of infectious disease.
Scientist believe that the next flu pandemic is eminent as the rates of chronic disease and antibiotic resistance continue to increase. This pandemic may mirror the 1918 Spanish flu that killed between 50-100 million people.
Antibiotic resistance also plays a key role in the spread of infectious diseases. In 1918, many people perished due to the lack of antibiotics. We are now facing a similar situation as many bacteria are becoming resistant to these antibiotics. Climate change may also have a significant impact on the immune response as risk for malnutrition from crop losses increases. Climate change is also affecting animal behavior, such as bird migration patterns, “which can contribute to the spread of the flu.”
Dr. van de Sandt of the University of Queensland states that, “there is a lot to be concerned about, and we still don’t have a vaccine to protect against all the strains of influenza.” Developing a new vaccine is the next big step in preventing this pandemic. Decreasing the rates of diabetes and above target weight will also make a significant impact on immunity and flu prevention.
For more information, visit Rise of diabetes could exacerbate future flu pandemics.