Adam Paronto
3/17/14
Professional Meeting/Conference Report: American Diabetes Association Expo
On Saturday, March 15th I attended the American Diabetes Association Expo held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The event consisted of free health screenings, cooking demonstrations, product and service exhibitors, and healthcare professionals discussing diabetes prevention, management, and research. The sponsors for this event were: healthfirst, NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network, SANOFI DIABETES, Walgreens, adlens, Advanced Cardiovascular Diagnostics, Empire BlueCross, and LatinTRENDS.
I listened to two talks throughout the day, one given by a registered dietitian and the other by a panel of doctors. The first talk was conducted by Maudene Nelson, MS, RD, CDE and was entitled, “Diabetes & Nutrition.” Ms. Nelson’s presentation focused on what a person with diabetes can eat rather than what they cannot. She stressed multiple times her idea that there is no such thing as a diabetic diet. Instead she recommended that a person with diabetes eats the amount of carbohydrates at each meal that allows for their blood glucose level to be less than 140 mg/dL two hours after that meal. On average she recommended no more than 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal with a range of 45-75 grams. Ms. Nelson also explained the purpose of MyPlate including the proper portion sizes of each food group, choosing vegetables that you enjoy, the importance of fiber in slowing down glucose absorption, and finding ways to make less desirable food choices fit into a healthy diet.
The second talk that I attended was entitled “The Changing Face of Diabetes” and it was moderated by Dr. Tharakaram Ravishankar, Geriatric Medicine, Endocrinologist, Diabetes & Metabolism. The panel included Dr. Susan Kansagra, Deputy Commissioner NYC Department of Health, Dr. Ashwin Patel, MD & PhD., Assistant Professor-NYU & Founder of InquisitHealth, Dr. Rashid Mosley, Ed D. American Diabetes Association Director of Mission Delivery, Dr. Richard Ng, Family Medicine, and Dr. Drilon Saliu, Pharm D., Worldwide Medical Director-Becton Dickinson. This panel discussed recent findings and emerging trends of the treatment of diabetes. They also talked about the impact that diabetes is having on us as a society. The panel expressed great interest in the prevention of diabetes through increased screening of pre-diabetics, education, peer to peer support systems, better psychological care of patients with depression, elimination of stigmatism amongst school-aged children, better transitional care from pediatrics and adult care, and through the reduction of obesity rates. This last point was the one that most interested me as a dietetic intern. The connection between obesity and diabetes and the fact that the risk of diabetes doubles in obese patients was discussed. The moderator also mentioned the term “diabesity” to illustrate the connection of these two conditions. A comprehensive approach is necessary to combat the epidemic of diabetes and the recognition of the skills of healthcare providers in all disciplines by others is an integral part of the process.
Ms. Nelson’s presentation was balanced using information from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Diabetes Association, and the USDA. She mentioned specific laboratory goals that people with diabetes should attempt to achieve including an A1C less than 6.5, cholesterol less than 200, and LDL less than 70. The medical panel was less balanced with a few of the members actually admitting to being biased towards their organization’s method to combat diabetes. The most balanced member was Dr. Kansagra of the Department of Health. She cited statistics from DOH and the American Diabetes Association. The most alarming statistics she presented was the increase in the incidence of diabetes from 4% to 11% for New York City in the past 12 years.
I believe that Ms. Nelson’s approach to her talk was appropriate and effective. She faced the challenge of providing nutrition education to a wide variety of people with varying levels of knowledge in a noisy, busy environment. She handled this situation with explanations of any scientific terms which the audience might have been unfamiliar with. People were allowed to come and go during the session and Ms. Nelson did a great job of repeating the most important points while continuing with her lesson. I thought that the way Ms. Nelson presented her information was very successful because she was able to effectively communicate her message to a diverse group. The medical panel’s discussion was less successful in conveying their intended message to the audience. The panel did meet their goal of initiating talking points related to topics in diabetes findings, treatment, and economic impact. However, after brief introductions by the panel members the remainder of the session consisted solely of questions from the audience. While it was a good opportunity for individuals to obtain information that pertained to them I believe a more structured discussion focusing on the efforts and findings of each of the panel members and their organizations would have been more beneficial to the audience as a whole.
The refreshments served were consistent with the messages of the event. New diabetic products including stevia water enhancers and low-carbohydrate breads, cookies, and ice cream were featured. Spokespeople for the companies that manufacture these products were present offering information on the foods being offered. Another source of refreshments came by way of healthy cooking demonstrations conducted on the Healthy Eating stage. Chefs specializing in a variety of cuisines, including: Indian, Italian, Latin, Chinese, and American, demonstrated techniques to turn these cultural dishes into diabetic friendly options. At the conclusion of each demonstration the audience was offered a sample of the dish the chef prepared.