November is Diabetes Awareness Month

To wrap up our shows on Diabetes this month we will be talking to Jean Blake from The Canadian Diabetes Association. Then Pam and Toma are going to open the phones to callers as they recap the month  and discuss putting self into responsible Self Managment of Chronic Disease and Medical self advocate.

Jean Blake, M. Ed.

Jean Blake, Executive Director, Canadian Diabetes Association, Pacific Area

She has held various roles in health care, including the North Shore Health Region and Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver as the Director of Education and Organization Development.

Jean also worked as a training performance consultant with AchieveGlobal. She was a Master Trainer in Organizational Effectiveness with AchieveGlobal and is a certified Change and Transition Management consultant. She has designed and delivered a variety of performance management workshops.

 To Contact The Canadian Diabetes Association visit their website http://www.diabetes.ca/ Or

General Inquiries
Phone: 1800 BANTING (226-8464)

Or your local CDA office

Additional Specific Diabetic Diet information is available from Toma's Website http://diabetic-diet-secrets.com Or from Toma's Book, Toma's Diabetic Diet, A Layman's Guide To Controlling Blood Glucose with Diet.

Toma and Pam in the CHLY broadcast booth.

Pam and Toma Invite you to call in and discuss topics related to this months theme of Diabetes and Medical Self Advocacy.

Our on-air phone number is 250 740 1017 Call and be part of our show. 

Pam talked about the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program Their contact information is:

Registering for Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions

This course is offered over six-weeks and is FREE. Please register early as courses may be cancelled if a minimum number of persons do not pre-register. Plan to commit to all six sessions as this is not a drop-in course.

To REGISTER or for ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on all the courses listed below, please contact: Mark Davies, Program Coordinator

Phone: Toll-free at 1-866-902-3767
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

WINTER 2008 COURSES

disAbility Resource Centre
321 Coronation Avenue
Duncan, BC
Fridays, time to be announced January 18 to February 22, 2008

Yakimovich Wellness Centre
1454 Hillside Avenue
Victoria, BC
Thursdays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm January 24 to February 28, 2008

Fairfield New Horizons
1 - 380 Cook Street
Victoria, BC
Fridays, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm January 25 to February 29, 2008

Sunrise Senior Living
920 Humboldt Street
Victoria, BC
Fridays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm January 25 to February 29, 2008

Gordon Head Recreation Centre (Finnerty Room)
4100 Lambrick Way
Victoria, BC
Thursdays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm February 7 to March 13, 2008

Henderson Centre
2291 Cedar Hill X Road
Victoria, BC
Mondays, 1:15 pm to 3:45 pm February 11 to March 17, 2008

Oak Bay Recreation Centre
1975 Bee Street
Victoria, BC
Tuesdays, 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm February 12 to March 18, 2007

Shoal Centre
10030 Resthaven Drive
Sidney, BC
Wednesdays, 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm February 13 to March 19, 2008

Victoria Chinese Pentecostal Church
2215 Dowler Place
Victoria, BC
Saturdays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm March 1 to April 5, 2008
For Cantonese-speaking participants.

SPRING 2008 COURSES

Henderson Centre
2291 Cedar Hill X Road
Victoria, BC
Monday, 1:15 pm to 3:45 pm April 7 to May 12, 2008

Oak Bay Recreation Centre
1975 Bee Street
Victoria, BC
Tuesdays, 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm April 8 to May 13, 2007

Sunrise Senior Living
920 Humboldt Street
Victoria, BC
Fridays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm April 25 to May 29, 2008

Gordon Head Recreation Centre (Finnerty Room)
4100 Lambrick Way
Victoria, BC
Thursdays, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm May 1 to June 5, 2008

Shoal Centre
10030 Resthaven Drive
Sidney, BC
Wednesdays, 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm May 7 to June 11, 2008

Victoria, BC
Dates, times and location to be announced
Register  250-595-3892 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Intended for people living with Hepatitis-C, but other people living with any chronic condition(s) are welcome to attend.

Becoming a Volunteer Leader for Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions

For information about becoming a Volunteer Leader and details about Leader Training Workshops, please contact Mark Davies at 604-940-3580 or toll-free: 1-866-902-3767, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Leader Training Workshops

Some disturbing facts About diabetes.

Some disturbing facts:

• Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or suffer a stroke than people without diabetes.

• It has been estimated that at the time of diagnosis, 50% of people with type 2 diabetes already have some vascular disease, because diabetes often goes undetected for many years.

• People with Pre-Diabetes are 50% more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than are people with normal blood glucose levels.

• Yet surveys show that over 65% of people with diabetes do not consider cardiovascular disease (CVD) to be a serious complication of diabetes, and only 18% of people with diabetes believe that they are at increased risk for CVD.

Why is there a relationship between heart disease and diabetes?

• High blood glucose levels over time can damage blood vessels, resulting in blood vessel walls that are thicker and less elastic; this makes it more difficult for the blood to pass through.

• Many people with diabetes also have abnormal blood fats (also called lipids, which include cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL) caused both by poorly controlled diabetes as well as poor diet. Elevated lipids can further clog blood vessels, increasing your risk of a heart attack, stroke, or poor circulation in your legs.

Canadians seem largely unaware of the disturbing facts surrounding diabetes and unconcerned about their own risk for the disease. According to a recent national survey sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Aventis Pharma, only 39 per cent of the 1,500 people questioned said they were "very" or "somewhat" concerned about developing diabetes (compared with 60 per cent who expressed concern about cancer and 57 per cent who worried about heart disease).

Diabetes is costing British columbia $700,000,000.00 per year just for treatment. The total cost are much higher. In 1950 there was less than 1% of the population diagnosed with diabetes. That number rose to 3% in the mid 80s and is pegged at 7% in 2007. Diabetes is expexted to increase to 14% of the population. Many experts from around the world say at least 80% of the cases of diabetes can be prevented with proper diet.

One leading diabetes expert at the University of Toronto likens the rising rate of diabetes to the "perfect storm," a reference to the raging fronts that converged in the North Atlantic in 1991 to create the greatest storm in recorded history. (The tempest was depicted in the recent movie The Perfect Storm.)

"When it comes to the perfect storm of diabetes, all the conditions are right," says Dr. Bernard Zinman, a professor of medicine who heads the division of endocrinology and metabolism at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. One contributing factor is that the massive baby boom generation is moving into its 50s, when the risk of diabetes normally increases. Another contributor to the storm is the current climate of what he calls "overnutrition" – the consumption of unhealthy fast foods and super-sized portions, which is driving up the rate of obesity, "a known risk factor for Type 2 diabetes," he says.

Can diabetes be prevented?

Researchers with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases studied 3,234 men and women aged 25 to 85 who suffered from impaired glucose tolerance – a condition that often precedes diabetes. The trial included people who were obese and had a family history of diabetes. Some also belonged to an ethnic group known to be at higher risk for Type 2 diabetes.

The subjects were randomly divided into three groups: one group was given a diabetes medication called metformin, which decreases the amount of glucose produced by the liver; the second received an inactive placebo drug. (These two groups also received general health advice about exercise, weight loss and diet.) Those in the third group did not take any diabetes medication but attended a 24-week education program to help them follow a low-fat diet combined with moderate exercise, with the aim of reducing body weight by seven per cent.

After three years, here's what the study found: on average, 11 per cent per year of high-risk people who took the placebo had developed Type 2 diabetes, compared with 7.8 per cent per year of those who took metformin and 4.8 per cent per year of those who had changed their eating and exercise habits. Put simply, even modest changes in diet and exercise reduced the risk for Type 2 diabetes by more than half.

"[The findings] demonstrate that lifestyle changes can benefit a broad range of high-risk patients," says Dr. Lawrence Leiter, a professor of medicine and nutritional sciences who heads the division of endocrinology at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. "It's also the first study to show that taking a drug – in this case, metformin – also reduces diabetes risk."

The Glycemic Index, developed at U of T, offers a dietary plan for controlling diabetes
Diabetes is a complex condition that researchers are still trying to unravel. In basic terms, the disease impairs the way food is processed into the glucose that fuels our bodies. People with Type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes continue to produce their own insulin, the all-important hormone (secreted by the pancreas) that regulates glucose. But for some mysterious reason, in Type 2 diabetes this delicate hormonal balancing act falters, and blood glucose rises to unhealthy levels. (In Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, the body stops producing insulin altogether.)

According to Dr. Thomas Wolever, a diabetes researcher and professor in the department of nutritional sciences, the goal of diabetes management is to bring blood-glucose levels into the healthiest possible range via proper nutrition, physical activity, regular glucose monitoring, the use of oral medications and/or insulin as required and stress reduction.

One aspect of proper nutrition involves making the best possible food choices, says Dr. Wolever. Twenty years ago, he and colleague David Jenkins, a professor of nutritional sciences and director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre at St. Michael's Hospital, developed the Glycemic Index (GI) system, which ranks a wide variety of foods according to how they affect blood-glucose levels in the body. Foods low on the index (such as barley, pasta, parboiled rice, oatmeal and whole-grain pumpernickel bread) produce a gradual rise in blood sugar, which is easier on the body; foods high on the index (such as mashed potatoes, white bread, many cold breakfast cereals and crackers) cause blood-glucose and insulin levels to spike, which may be harmful. (For more information, read The Glucose Revolution: The Authoritative Guide to the Glycemic Index, or check out www.glycemicindex.com).

Several studies have found that people newly diagnosed with diabetes who learn to follow the GI system tend to make healthier food choices and have better blood-glucose and lipid (blood fat) levels than those who follow traditional dietary advice. Some research suggests that choosing foods low on the index may reduce a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the first place.

Although the Glycemic Index system is currently recommended by the World Health Organization and other expert bodies, its use is somewhat controversial. Some doctors feel the system is too complicated for patients; others argue that the real problem for those with Type 2 diabetes isn't the glycemic nature of what they eat, but rather that they are consuming too many calories.