Advertisement
Published: October 28th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Insulin Discovery in Canada, 1922
Dr Banting and his assistant Dr Best. My reason to come to Montreal was the INTERNATIONAL DIABETES FEDERATION world congress:
I am proud to be a presenter and one of the 12,000 professionals attending it.
The conference was enlightening! I enhanced my knowledge about the diabetes disease process and its management.
On a personal note, I was delighted to play an active role in the congress. Through the presentations and discussions of my two research studies demonstrating positive outcome data and through my comments and remarks after workshops which instigated discussion, I was pleased with my little contribution to the world of diabetes.
Being approached by the ADA to be interviewed for an upcoming audio education program for American physicians was a truly unexpected honor.
DIABETES: OVER 20 MILLION have people a reality and a cruel disease with the power to blind, to amputate limbs, to lead to dialysis and to kill. Almost 11 million men and almost 10 million women have it.
DIABETES EDUCATION: my profession, my passion and a powerfull tool to prevent blindness, amputation, dialysis/kidney disease, poor quality of life and early death.
DIABETES SHOCKING REALITY: every 20 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes and every 20 seconds one dies of complications
from it. YOU are very likely to be attached by diabetes.
Cases of diabetes doubled from 1990 to 2005.
1 out of 3 children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. By 2050, 48 million Americans will have type 2 diabetes. 2 million US children age 12-19 have pre-diabetes
CANADA: What an appropriate location for this important meeting, as Canada not only is beautiful and welcoming, but also the birth place of INSULIN. Here, two Canadian doctors invented insulin, which translated to life itself to so many people with diabetes.
It's a fascinating story of a man who fought a war, came back to discover insulin, to make a longer life possible for so many. However, his brilliant life and career ended early, as he was killed on a plane crash on the way to be a doctor at another war.
REMEMBER: diabetes CAN be prevented and CAN be controlled with healthy lifestyle. Just a walk around the block and a modest reduction in weight can make all the difference.
So, empower yourself and others to act, to move, to be healthy and to beat diabetes.
Here I share with you some of the sights
and sounds of IDF 09 and the story about my last encounter in Montreal:
At 5am I am heading to the airport. The taxi driver asks: “What brought you to Montreal?” I reply “A conference”. “On what?”
“Diabetes”, I say.
“Are you a physician?”
“No, I am a dietitian and diabetes educator.”
“Oh! I could use help from someone like you. I have diabetes. I take medication for it and my diet is not good". He went on for a little while.
I said: “It is hard, isn’t it?” He replies: “Oh, yes. It is very hard”.
Well, what followed were 20 minutes of simple (yet effective) little tips suggested to him.
The man appeared so pleased! “You are good motivator, Madam, and I think I can do these little things because it is not a lot. It’s like my wife when she started to retire. She did it a little bit at a time, not all at once, and that was good for her”.
We said goodbye with him adding: “Madam, Thank you. You really care, don’t you? I will do this for YOU”.
Wishing him well, I just added: “Sir. You can’t do it for
ME or anyone else. You must do it for YOURSELF, for your own health and happiness. And remember: a little step at a time goes a long way”.
Wishing you good health and happiness.
Patricia
P.S.
For those of you who don't know me, I am a certified diabetes educator (CDE), a registered dietitian (RD), a speaker on diabetes and healthy lifestyle and the onwer of the Diabetes and Nutrition Education Center (DNEC).
Advertisement
Tot: 0.058s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 25; dbt: 0.036s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Natasa
non-member comment
Bravo!
It was so nice spending time with you in M., knowing you + your work! Hope you're gonna visit us @ our conference in Croatia, as a speaker, of course! Luv, Natasa