August 4, 2020 : DCMS #513

DISASTERS AVERTED — Near Miss Case Studies

When Patients’ Symptoms Don’t Fit the Diagnosis, Look Deep

TOP STORIES — Diabetes News and Research

T2DM Management Priorities: Time to Align

Exercise Effects on Glucose Response and Pancreatic Fat Content

Systematic Literature Reviews Elucidate Cost-Effectiveness of Diabetes Interventions

MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF THE MONTH

#1 Could Carb Restriction Lead to Diabetes Remission?

#2 The Low-Carbohydrate Effect

#3 The Use of Dietary Supplements in the Treatment of Diabetes

I first became a CDE in 2002, and it was an interesting journey. There were not that many Pharmacist CDE’s, and once I became a CDE it was even harder to find an ADA-recognized program that I could work in. As the years have progressed,  diabetes education, management, and training has been proven to lead to better outcomes and ultimately less per patient costs. In fact, last year we changed our designation to Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist.

However, if you look, many diabetes education programs have closed down or reduced. I believe part of the problem has to do with the ability of a CDE to be directly reimbursed for patient care. If this was possible, then rather than trying to have patients come to a hospital or an office for a 1-2 day intensive program with more information than a person could possibly remember, they could have an educator and manager that spent an hour or so with them, let them learn in small doses, and then followup to celebrate and encourage their successes. The way we are forced to educate now is like taking a first grader and teaching them everything they need to know to graduate high school during their first week, and then expecting them to remember it all.

This is a recipe for failure and is likely why many patients never get to the goals we have for them.

If you look at the article from our LECOM PharmD candidate, Melinda Rodriguez, you will see why my idea makes sense and why we need a change.

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We can make a difference!

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Dave Joffe

Editor-in-chief

A young man, 32 years of age, with a history of ADHD and being treated with Adderall, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He had symptoms upon diagnosis — frequent urination, weight loss, and his BMI was 20. He followed a low carb diet, was taking metformin, and exercised; however, his blood glucose and A1C continued to rise to 7.7%….

Advances in diabetes technology and treatment over the past decade have failed to yield desired glycemic outcomes in many patients with T2DM.

Maintaining a regular pancreatic fat content could reduce the risk of metabolic diseases like type 2 diabetes.

$327 billion are spent annually for the treatment and management of diabetes.