David Ficklen, MD
Diabetes and Heart Disease
Our guest speaker, David Ficklen, M.D., has committed himself to improving diabetes wellness in Huntsville. He has spearheaded multiple events and health fairs to promote diabetes awareness. His passion for fighting diabetes has already helped many people understand and manage their disease (like my husband and I).
The slideshow that Dr. Ficklen presented was full of great information with understandable graphics that helped explain diabetes. I did the best I could taking notes, but there was so much information I could hardly keep up. If you ever get the opportunity to watch this presentation, do it, you will not be disappointed!
Dr. Ficklen first explained the process of food consumption and how the body uses sugars (in a normal person). He then explained the two types of Diabetes:
1. Type 1—5% of diabetics. This is where the body produces no insulin, either juvenile onset or your body quits making insulin. The effect is that your body can’t get sugar out of your body (the job of insulin) and your tissues are literally starving!
2. Type 2—95% of diabetics. Usually adult onset. This is where your pancreas is good, you are making insulin, but your body is resistant to insulin. Your body does not process it, your sugars are high, your pancreas thinks it needs to keep making insulin to handle it, and your sugars continue to rise because you are not processing the sugars!
Dr. Ficklen talked about Coronary Atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease (blockages). He explained that the inside of your arteries are lined with endothelium—a smooth skin. Blood flows nicely through these smooth walls...but they are fragile. High sugar can damage the endothelium causing plaque to build up, like a rough spot on a carpet. It eventually becomes a hard substance made up of cholesterol, calcium, blood clots and inflammation. This all layers and fills until it blocks the artery. He described plaque as having the constitution of an M&M (hard candy shell with a gooey filling) eeuuwww!!! Eventually the plaque ruptures and the white blood cells encompass it to protect the area causing damage by releasing free radical oxygen, it will then implode causing the blood flow to stop. In minutes the tissue will die and heart tissue will not regenerate. I’ll do anything to stop that!!
He discussed the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) treatment guidelines.
1. Their (and his) philosophy is to treat a diabetic patient as a heart patient because diabetics are three times more likely to have heart disease.
2. Of the 95% (type II) diabetics, 80% are obese.
3. High blood sugar is the consequence of diabetes, the cause is the resistance to insulin.
Dr Ficklen talked about Metabolic Syndrome. Insulin resistance has consequences of obesity, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, hypertension, low HDL, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.
Some of the most common symptoms of diabetes are excessive thirst, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, sugar cravings, and frequent urination.
The health care solution is a preventative lifestyle. We should of course, lower our sugar intake, eat more complex carbs, get plenty of sleep and increase our exercise. He also suggests that it is a good idea to get the flu vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine.
In the 80’s, lifestyle changes such as fast food, high fructose corn syrup, sitting in front of computers (laziness) and poor eating habits, contributed to soaring health problems. And it is only getting worse!
A frightening statement he made was “for the first time in history the current generation of children are expected to die before their parents.” What have we become?
Refreshments were carrot, zucchini, squash, radish, cucumber and tomato with a ranch dip (1 sugar and 2 carbs per 2 tblspn serving) and grapes. Bottled water and coffee were also served.
The slideshow that Dr. Ficklen presented was full of great information with understandable graphics that helped explain diabetes. I did the best I could taking notes, but there was so much information I could hardly keep up. If you ever get the opportunity to watch this presentation, do it, you will not be disappointed!
Dr. Ficklen first explained the process of food consumption and how the body uses sugars (in a normal person). He then explained the two types of Diabetes:
1. Type 1—5% of diabetics. This is where the body produces no insulin, either juvenile onset or your body quits making insulin. The effect is that your body can’t get sugar out of your body (the job of insulin) and your tissues are literally starving!
2. Type 2—95% of diabetics. Usually adult onset. This is where your pancreas is good, you are making insulin, but your body is resistant to insulin. Your body does not process it, your sugars are high, your pancreas thinks it needs to keep making insulin to handle it, and your sugars continue to rise because you are not processing the sugars!
Dr. Ficklen talked about Coronary Atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease (blockages). He explained that the inside of your arteries are lined with endothelium—a smooth skin. Blood flows nicely through these smooth walls...but they are fragile. High sugar can damage the endothelium causing plaque to build up, like a rough spot on a carpet. It eventually becomes a hard substance made up of cholesterol, calcium, blood clots and inflammation. This all layers and fills until it blocks the artery. He described plaque as having the constitution of an M&M (hard candy shell with a gooey filling) eeuuwww!!! Eventually the plaque ruptures and the white blood cells encompass it to protect the area causing damage by releasing free radical oxygen, it will then implode causing the blood flow to stop. In minutes the tissue will die and heart tissue will not regenerate. I’ll do anything to stop that!!
He discussed the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) treatment guidelines.
1. Their (and his) philosophy is to treat a diabetic patient as a heart patient because diabetics are three times more likely to have heart disease.
2. Of the 95% (type II) diabetics, 80% are obese.
3. High blood sugar is the consequence of diabetes, the cause is the resistance to insulin.
Dr Ficklen talked about Metabolic Syndrome. Insulin resistance has consequences of obesity, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, hypertension, low HDL, diabetes, and atherosclerosis.
Some of the most common symptoms of diabetes are excessive thirst, unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, sugar cravings, and frequent urination.
The health care solution is a preventative lifestyle. We should of course, lower our sugar intake, eat more complex carbs, get plenty of sleep and increase our exercise. He also suggests that it is a good idea to get the flu vaccine and the pneumonia vaccine.
In the 80’s, lifestyle changes such as fast food, high fructose corn syrup, sitting in front of computers (laziness) and poor eating habits, contributed to soaring health problems. And it is only getting worse!
A frightening statement he made was “for the first time in history the current generation of children are expected to die before their parents.” What have we become?
Refreshments were carrot, zucchini, squash, radish, cucumber and tomato with a ranch dip (1 sugar and 2 carbs per 2 tblspn serving) and grapes. Bottled water and coffee were also served.