Did you know? Our App includes:

• 2020 Standards of Care, both in full and in convenient topical sections
• Question of the Week
• Medication PocketCards (updated in 2020)
• Free Quizzes and much more!

2020 app name change. We are updating our app name to DiabetedEd Coach App | Prep for CDCES in the next few weeks. Same great content with a fresh name.

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Appreciation and Review

Coach Beverly would like to thank the thousands of health care professionals who have downloaded our CDE® Coach App! And we appreciate your feedback to make it even better!

We strive for constant improvement, so we’re happy to hear so many people appreciate the hard work that goes into this pocket reference and study aid.

Want to share your satisfaction with the app?
Please share your review by clicking the links below!

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Want to know more about Standards of Care 2020?

Join us January 21, 2020 @ 11:30 a.m. PST for our Live Update of Level 1 Standards of Care!

Can’t make it live? No problem: our live webinars are always recorded, so the updates we do will always be loaded into your online student account by end of business day.

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FREE webinar, ready for viewing

Unsure about changes in 2020?

Coach Beverly offers this FREE webinar to help get you prepare for the CDCES Exam. All her tips and tricks are meant to ease your mind and reflect the updates to the CDCES content outline. Watch the latest from January 2, 2020 below:

Topics Covered Include:

• Implications of new certification name, CDCES for our specialty
• Exam requirement updates for 2020
• Exam eligibility and test format
• Strategies to succeed along with a review of study tips and test taking tactics.
• We will review sample test questions, and the reasoning behind choosing the right answers.
• Learn how to focus your time and prepare to take the CDCES Exam. We provide plenty of sample test questions and test-taking tips!

Instructor: Beverly Thomassian RN, MPH, CDCES, BC-ADM is a working educator who has passed her CDCES Exam 6 times. She is a nationally recognized diabetes expert for over 25 years.

See our Preparing for CDCES Resource Page >>

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Get Ready for a New Name in 2020.

Every end marks a new beginning. We’re ringing in this New Year with a FREE Preparing for the CDCES Exam Webinar!

If you haven’t heard, starting in 2020, CDE’s will go from being Certified Diabetes Educators to our new name: Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (CDCES).

Learn more about the significance of this new name and how it will impact your specialty.

Join us January 2, 2020 @ 11:30 a.m. PST to learn more about this name change from Coach Beverly. Register now for our FREE Preparing for CDCES Exam Webinar.

Webinar Topics covered include:

• Implications of new certification name, CDCES for our specialty
• Exam requirement updates for 2020
• Exam eligibility and test format
• Strategies to succeed along with a review of study tips and test taking tactics.
• We will review sample test questions, and the reasoning behind choosing the right answers.

Register now for our FREE Preparing for CDCES Exam Webinar January 2nd at 11:30 PST.

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This one-hour complimentary journey will expand your view of how trillions of bacterial hitchhikers profoundly influence our health. We will discuss how foods, the environment and our medical practices have impacted our gut bacteria over time and strategies we can take to protect these old friends. You can either view the webinar for free, or to receive 1.0 CE, purchase the webinar below for just $19 (normally $29). 

Feedback from a recent participant:

“Beverly never disappoints! Great information presented so nicely. She is interesting and fun.”

“Fabulous webinar!! Great cutting edge information!”

Watch now for free (no CEs):

This webinar is completely free because we love sharing exciting information with our community! However, if you would like CEs you can purchase the individual course or as part of a series.

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In this season of gratitude, we want to express our appreciation for our community! We understand the important work you all do every day to support individuals living with and managing diabetes and prediabetes.

We are so thankful for the differences you all make in the world as you address disparities and improve the health of communities locally and across the nation.

We have been so inspired by our students and are so proud of each achievement. If you have a moment, stop by our CDCES Success Stories page to read about the incredible journeys students have taken to become diabetes educators.

At Diabetes Ed Services, we work diligently every day to provide diabetes information that is relevant, compassionate and cutting edge. We believe in the potential of all students, from people living with diabetes to health care professionals striving to enhance their knowledge. Thank you for being a part of our lives and community.

On behalf of the entire Diabetes Education Services Team, Happy Thanksgiving!

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More intestinal mucus is better. Especially if it is microbially diverse and full of A. muciniphila. A healthy thick gut mucus lining environment boasts an abundance of A. muciniphila and is associated with decreased glucose and less inflammation. A thinner mucus layer is associated with increased diabetes risk and inflammation.

A. muciniphila, discovered only a decade ago, has the important and complex job of maintaining the mucus layer that lines the intestines. Hence the name, mucinphila or mucus loving. An intestinal mucus layer full of A. mucinphila seems to be important. This bacterium makes up just 3 to 5 percent of all gut microbes, yet it’s the main microbe floating in the mucus layer and it’s busy.

The Role of A. muciniphila

A. muciniphila prompts cells to increase mucin production which contributes to a healthy intestinal mucus layer and prevents pathogens from escaping the intestine and entering into circulation.

In rodent studies, A. muciniphila nudges the cells that line the intestine to release more endocannabinoids, which reduce inflammation and prompt release of the gut hormones, GLP-1 and GLP-2. Gut hormones lower post meal glucose levels.

A. muciniphila also helps to create small chain fatty acids from the breakdown of microbiota available carbohydrates (MACs). Fatty acids are associated with a healthier gut. They lower the intestinal pH and create a lumen environment that supports healthy bacterial diversity.

How can we increase A. muciniphila?

Metformin is associated with increased levels of A. muciniphila. Animal studies consistently show that metformin significantly promotes A. muciniphila abundance.

Eating certain whole foods and avoiding high fat diets.

Studies show that polyphenols derived from grapes and cranberries increase the abundance of Akkermansia. This results in enhanced intestinal barrier function and incretin secretion from intestinal endocrine cells. Together, these actions suppress obesity, insulin resistance, and intestinal inflammation.

In another study, apple-derived macromolecular procyanidins induced an increase in the abundance of intestinal Akkermansia leading to anti-inflammatory effects in a mouse model with metabolic syndrome.

Research has also shown that avoiding a high-fat diet and heavy alcohol intake can increase A. muciniphila abundance.

Probiotics – studies are being done to see if A. mucinphila supplements can also increase intestinal levels. There is so much more info coming out everyday about this bug superstar.

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View our FREE On-Demand Webinar – Getting to the Gut, Meet Your Microbiome

This one-hour complimentary journey will expand your view of how trillions of bacterial hitchhikers profoundly influence our health. We will discuss how foods, the environment and our medical practices have impacted our gut bacteria over time and strategies we can take to protect these old friends. Join us!

Gut Bacteria Resource Page & Printable Handouts

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World Diabetes Day Celebrates Dr. Banting’s Birthday and the Discovery of Insulin

Dr. Banting was born on November 14, 1891.  That is why we celebrate World Diabetes Day on November 14th.

During a hot summer in 1921, Dr.Banting secured space to test out his theory in the University of Toronto. Along with his colleague, Charles Best, and a bare bones lab, they conducted dozens of experiments on dogs, which ultimately led to the discovery of insulin. 

Dr. Banting and Charles Best began their experiments ligating the pancreases of dogs, thinking this would prevent destruction by the digestive pancreatic juices, and then isolating the extract from the islet cells. They then processed the extract from the islet cells and injected this extract they called “insulin” into diabetic dogs.  According to an audio Interview with Dr. Best, by July 1921, they had 75 positive examples of insulin lowering blood glucose levels in dogs. 

In February 1922, doctor Frederick Banting and biochemist John Macleod published their paper on the successful use of a alcohol based pancreatic extract for normalizing blood glucose levels in a human patient.

Here are some photos of the first insulin bottles produced by the University of Toronto and Eli Lilly.

Soon, word of their discovery got out and the race was on to produce enough insulin to treat the flood of type 1 patients arriving in Toronto to receive this miracle injection.

But, as with any amazing discovery, there is always more to the story. 

One of the biggest barriers to Banting was the simple fact that he was not involved in the field of diabetes research. The idea leading to the discovery of insulin came to him after preparing a lecture on the pancreas and diabetes, a subject he knew little about. He wasn’t a trained researcher and thus securing support for the project was initially difficult.

First Children to Receive Insulin

The first patient to receive insulin was a ‘welfare’ case at Toronto General Hospital – no clinical trial structure to say the least. People from Canada/US flooded into Toronto to receive treatment. Banting struggled with the lack of accessibility of insulin – volume needed, issues of purification.

Historical Insulin Powerpoint Slides – here is a collection of some of my favorite powerpoint slides, depicting the discovery of insulin.

The earliest patients were “selected”, some youths from Canada/US, some soldiers with diabetes (probably because of Banting’s service in the First World War) and then later some select private patients. During this time they were working hard to increase the volume and continue to improve the purification process. Insulin was available for testing in US, namely through Dr. Elliot Joslin in the late summer 1922.

Takes a Team

While Best played a critical and important role, credit must also go to Professor Macleod, from the University of Toronto, who provided the lab space, showed Dr. Banting how to operate on dogs, provided his student Best and suggested they switch from a saline to alcohol to purify the ‘extract’.  Dr. Macleod also secured the support of JB Collip, the 4th man on the team and the fist person to purify insulin for human use. Best is also known for pushing Banting to return to the research during a particular dark period of failure.

Dr. Banting – Fun and Interesting Facts

• Sold insulin patent for $1
  
• Was wounded during the First World War and received the Military Cross
• Youngest Nobel Laureate in Medicine
• First Canadian on the cover of Time Magazine
• Among the last Canadians to receive a knighthood and have the title Sir Frederick Banting
• One of only two “non-Americans” to have a Second World War Liberty Ship named after him (USS Frederick Banting)
• Has as a crater on the Moon named after him (between Apollo 15 & 17 landing sites).

Want to Learn More About the Dr. Banting?

 Visit Banting House FaceBook Page

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Happy Veteran’s day! We want to honor all veterans today, including our dads. Above are pictured Bob Dyck, Beverly Thomassian’s father who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (1960-63); and Thomas Nugent, Taryn’s father who served in the U.S. Air Force during Vietnam (1972-76).

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