Farxiga for type 2 diabetes will soon hit shelves

By Stephanie Yager, Student Pharmacist

Is Your Blood Pressure Under Control?

 

Last week, we participated in our annual blood pressure screenings for Million Hearts Week. We went to 3 pharmacies and conducted over 30 blood pressure screenings

 

  New guidelines for the management of blood pressure were recently released. MOD went through the guidelines and created a new chart for patients to determine their blood pressure goals. The treatment goals listed below are for people who are diagnosed with hypertension. Note that if you have Diabetes, your blood pressure goal is probably less than 140 over 90. If you are over 60 years old and don't have diabetes, your goal might be less than 150 over 90. Consult your doctor to determine what blood pressure goals are right for you.

 

 

Diabetes Jeopardy!

Last month, MOD played Diabetes Jeopardy at Johns Hopkins Outpatient Pharmacy. How much Diabetes Jeopardy do you know?

Glycemic control for 100: The goal blood pressure for most people with diabetes.

                         Answer:What is 140/80 mmHg

Diabetes Management for 100: Things you can do if you think you have low blood sugar.

                       Answer: When would you check your blood sugar right away. Treat by eating/drinking something containing sugar such as 1/2 cup of regular fruit juice or soda, 3 glycose tablets, or 5-6 hard candies.Wait 15 minutes and then check your blood sugar again. If it is still low, have another 1/2 cup of juice or a few hard candies

Glycemic control for 200: The goal Hemoglobin A1c for most people with diabetes.

                    Answer: What is < 7 percent

Photo of pharmacy students providing diabetes education in the pharmacy.

World Diabetes Day Blue Monument Challenge

World Diabetes Day is celebrated every year on November 14th.  It was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to growing concerns about the escalating threat of diabetes worldwide.  In 2007, World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day as a result of UN Resolution 61/225.  The Resolution invites all member states to participate in World Diabetes Day and draw attention to the need for education and awareness to tackle the growing diabetes epidemic.

Since 2007, the global diabetes community has worked together with local champions to light iconic landmarks and buildings in blue to mark World Diabetes Day around the world. More than 1000 monuments in 84 countries have gone blue for diabetes.

This year, one students lit one of the monuments in front of the library blue. The Bromo-Seltzer Tower was shining blue in the background. Pharmacy students handed out flyers containing diabetes education to spread awareness to people walking by.

MOD was excited to be involved in such a monumental event!

Healthy Halloween

Last week 20 third and fourth graders came to the School of Pharmacy for a Healthy Halloween celebration.
The event combined health education with fun activities and a haunted house. The number of children affected by obesity and diabetes continues to increase each year. It is important to educate children and their caregivers at a young age to make healthy lifestyle choices.

One of the stations was a guess the calories game. Did you know that there are about 100 calories in an apple, 300 calories in a sandwich, and 400 calories in a hamburger?

 



One of the stations was about healthy hand washing. Did you know that frequent hand-washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness? When you wash your hands you should rub them vigorously for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

 

  



Other stations included Healthy Hydration, How Sweet are these Treats, Healthy Exercise and more.





Step Out Walk for Diabetes

We had a great turn-out at the annual Step Out Walk for Diabetes in Baltimore on Saturday, October 5. Our team managed to raise over $1014 and we had nearly 40 students walking from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. All of the proceeds went to the ADA to support diabetes research. Go Maryland!

Invokana

By Stella Chan, Student Pharmacist

Move Your Body!

Last year, a pharmacy student brought the message from Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign to Baltimore.
He taught middle and elementary school students the dance from Beyoncé's music video "Move Your Body".

Today, nearly 1 in 3 children in America are overweight or obese. If we don't solve this problem, 1/3 of children born in 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes or chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma at some point in their lives. "Let's Move! is a comprehensive initiative, launched by the First Lady, dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, so that children born today will grow up healthier and able to pursue their dreams."  It gives parents information and fosters an environment that supports healthy choices. (Information above retrieved from the Let's Move! website).
Here are pictures from our Move Your Body class.



 The dance leader taught 34 middle and elementary school students how much fun exercise can be. Everyone laughed, learned some new dance moves, and got their heart pumping.

MOD tries healthy recipies

A few days ago I decided to try for myself one of the delicious recipes from the American Diabetes Association website. Since I love pasta, I found a recipe that uses low carb Rotini. I started off making the ground beef and spinach sauce using this recipe: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/recipes/dreamfields-rotini-with-ground-beef-and-spinach.html

Ingredients (Makes 6 servings)
1 box Dreamfields Rotini, Penne Rigate or Elbows
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 pound (90%) lean ground beef
1 can (8 ounces) no salt added tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 package (10 ounces) spinach leaves, shredded
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Salt (optional)
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beef; cook until no longer pink, stirring and breaking beef into pieces.
3. Stir in tomato sauce and oregano. Continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add spinach, basil and red pepper flakes; continue cooking 3 minutes. Season with salt, if desired.
4. Drain pasta. Add to skillet; toss with beef mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

 

Nutritional Information (1/6 of recipe)

401 calories
27 g protein
14 g digestible carbohydrates*
11 g total fat
4 g saturated fat
49 mg cholesterol
178 mg sodium
8 g total dietary fiber

 

I found that healthy cooking can be fun and delicious. People with diabetes can work with a diabetes educator or dietitian to design a meal plan that includes the foods they love. Foods high in carbohydrates raise blood sugar the most and need to be monitored throughout the day. Round your meals out with meat and non-starchy vegetables. For more diabetes friendly recipes look here: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/recipes/

 

MOD does blood pressure screenings

MOD conducted blood pressure screenings at Professional Pharmacy and at a local health fair as part of the Million Hearts Initiative. The initiative is to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.

It is especially important for people with diabetes to control their blood pressure.

 

 

Below you can see a section of the fact sheet from the million hearts website. It explains what the blood pressure numbers mean. People can reduce their blood pressure by eating less salt. Try to eat no more than 1500mg of sodium a day. That is less than 1 teaspoon of salt! Most people with high blood pressure need 2 or 3 medicines to lower it. Work with your pharmacist and doctor to find the medications that are best for you. 

 

MOD goes to the UMB Wellness Fair

MOD went to the wellness fair to educate University of Maryland staff, students, and the community about diabetes. We talked to 62 people and conducted the diabetes risk assessment. We also provided hand-outs on how to prevent type 2 diabetes and about blood glucose.

Below you can see clips from the handout we gave up on how to delay type 2 diabetes. The handouts came from the American Diabetes Association website. http://www.diabetes.org/

Script Your Future

Operation Diabetes Participated in a Script Your Future event at Safeway to encourage medication adherence.

Above you can see a picture of the wallet cards that we handed out. It reminds patients of their pledge to take their medications and contains a list of the medications that they are taking. It is important to carry your medication list with you at all times so you can discuss them with your pharmacist and physicians. We handed out 246 wallet cards encouraging medication adherence.





We asked the people who stopped by our booth to write on a post-it note what they are pledging for. For example, one person wrote that they are taking their medications because they want to be healthy for retirement. Another person pledged that they will take their medications to be healthy to see their grandchildren graduate high school. Pledging to take medications for a specific reason reminds patients of the importance of taking medication to stay healthy.

Healthy Cook Off

This month, Operation Diabetes Helped Organize a Healthy Cook Off for Million Hearts Week.



We had 4 cooks compete. The meals were judged on their salt and cholesterol content and their overall taste.

Dr. Rocafort and Dr. Fusco were the Cook Off Judges. They enjoyed all of the meals and had trouble making their final decision. The winner made a dish with Earl Grey flavored fish. We learned how tastey healthy food can be! Below you can see a photograph of the judges and the contestants.

Sleep Deprivation Could Increase The Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

I read an interesting article recently relating sleep to Diabetes.

We have been taught that sleep is important for our brain function, but it turns out that sleep is also important for our fat cells. When you feel groggy, your metabolism also feels 'groggy' and this can lead to insulin resistance.

A recent study published October 16th, 2012 in Annals of Internal Medicine conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center professors indicated that a lack of sleep could also lead to obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. This is the first study involving sleep on a cellular level. It was a very small study with only 7 healthy young adults. They were randomly assigned to sleep either 8.5 or 4.5 hours a night for four nights and repeated these sessions in four week intervals. After the four days, scientists measured how fat samples from their abdomen processed glucose. The people who were sleep deprived had a 30% reduction in their response to insulin. Their insulin levels were close to 3 times higher than the well rested participants. The high insulin levels suggest that the pancreas was trying to compensate for the insulin resistance by making more insulin. If this sleep deprivation cycle continued chronically, type 2 diabetes could develop. The next project for these researchers will involve studying if treating sleep apnea in overweight people will improve their metabolism.

Sleep may be another important lifestyle modification that we will have to tell our patients about in the future. However; since this was such a small study we will have to wait and see if it will be verified by other studies. One researcher claimed that sleep should be considered as important as diet when you are trying to prevent weight gain and diabetes.

I summarized the information from this website:

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=669619

Diabetes Outreach at Johns Hopkins

Operation Diabetes joined up with NCPA (National Community Pharmacists Association) to educate the community about diabetes at Johns Hopkins Outpatient Pharmacy.

 

We played Diabetes Jeopardy with people who came by our table to help them learn about diabetes and clarify common myths. We used the Diabetes Risk Test screening tool below to determine patient's risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. The test takes into account age, sex, family history, physical activity, and weight to determine risk for diabetes. We enjoyed interacting with the community and felt that we made a positive impact by educating people about diabetes. 

 



Dietitian Comes to University of Maryland

On November 12th, Operation Diabetes brought Annette Hottenstein to speak at the University of Maryland. Annette is a Registered Dietician and is involved with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Diabetes Association. From her presentation, students learned about th history of nutrition therapy in diabetes. She pointed out that being overweight is not the only risk factor for diabetes. People who are not overweight can also be at risk. She taught that diabetics shouldn't skip meals, they should avoid sugary drinks, and eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish. In fact, the diabetic diet is the same as the recommended American diet. Unfortunately, the typical American diet is far from the recommended diet and she passed around bags showing the typical amount of fat and sugar in a fast food meal.

 Amount of butter in a fast food meal:                                            Amount of sugar in a fast food meal:

 

Annette also talked about foods that are good for diabetics. Oatmeal has been shown to be good for controlling blood sugar. Some diabetics feel that cinnamon is helpful but there is unclear evidence about its benefits. Fenugreek spice has some data showing its benefits and it tastes like maple. Whey has more evidence supporting it, but Alpha Lipoic Acid has the strongest evidence that it will effect glucose levels in the blood.

MOD learned a lot from Annette Hottenstein's talk!

Walk To Stop Diabetes in Baltimore

On October 6th 50 students came together to do the Walk to Stop Diabetes in Baltimore. It was a perfect day for a walk around the harbor with sunny blue skies above. We had pharmacy students from first through 4th year participating and a few PhD students as well. We raised $840 towards the American Diabetes Association. The money will go towards research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; deliver services to hundreds of communities; and provide objective and credible information. Everyone enjoyed walking and getting to know each other outside of the classroom.