Tag: menopause

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Highlights From Divabetic’s Menopause And Diabetes Panel Discussion

Enjoy highlights from Divabetic’s World Menopause Day Panel discussion on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Our panel was moderated by Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller and featured Dr. Julianne Arena, Donna Rice, and Amparo.

 

According to research, hormone levels (most notably estrogen and progesterone) fall dramatically during menopause. Changes to our hormones can affect our blood sugar levels and make managing diabetes more difficult.

Dr. Julianne Arena is a double board-certified physician, a board-certified OBGYN who applies traditional, integrative methods and a multi-layered approach to helping women with sexual health and intimacy issues. She’s also a practitioner of Cliovana, the only treatment available that improves long-term clitoral stimulation with proven sound wave technology. Her goal is to help women create optimal and vibrant lives.

Catherine Schuller is the go-to person in the image industry for all things style and fashion for the plus-size woman. She began as a former Ford Model and became a spokesperson for the industry, a retail editor for Mode magazine, and wrote the highly acclaimed how-to guide The Ultimate Plus Size Modeling Guide, which has helped thousands of young women who want to enter the plus size modeling field. She is a frequently quoted media expert on the puls-size market. She has appeared five times on The View, The Today Show, The Early Show, eight times on Neal Cavuto’s Your World, and many television and radio shows across the United States.

Donna Rice is a registered nurse and a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She is a national and international thought leader and author of four books, including Divabetic’s ebook Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide To Love And Intimacy With Diabetes. She is a Past President of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists and the Past President of the  Diabetes Health and Wellness Institute for Baylor Health Care Systems in Dallas, Texas.   Donna is the Chief Operating Officer for DiabetesSisters and The Chief  Evangelist for Call-ai, working on voice-driven AI for diabetes care and education.

Divabetic’s e-book, Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes is available now.  Inside you’ll find:

  • The common physical and emotional sexual complications of diabetes and treatment options for men and women
  • An overview of diabetes nutrition, physical activity, weight loss, and diabetes medications
  • Information on how aging impacts diabetes management and intimacy
  • Guidance on how to talk to your health care provider about intimacy-related issues
  • Ideas and techniques for building sexual intimacy and communicating effectively with your partner
  • Tips to help you avoid dangerous or money-wasting fraudulent sexual treatments

Authors Janis Roszler and Donna Rice use humor, helpful examples, and insightful questions to present key topics about sexual health in an engaging, approachable way. This series is perfect for anyone (regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, or health status) looking to rekindle intimacy with their partner or be proactive about their sexual and emotional well-being.

BUY NOW: $4.99

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Sugar-Free Butter- Rum Cakelets Recipe By The Diabetic Pastry Chef

Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, participated in Divabetic’s first-ever World Menopause Day program on Zoom. During the program, Stacey demonstrated how to make her Sugar-Free Butter-Rum Cakelets and answered participants’ questions.

Stacey defined ‘sugar-free baking’ as baking without any sugar. But she added that her recipes contain carbohydrates.  After you eat carbohydrates (grains, flour, etc.) your body turns those carbohydrates into glucose (sugar). Glucose gives your cells energy. The glucose moves into the bloodstream and your blood sugar level rises.

Everyone has a different carbohydrate tolerance. One person may be able to eat a carb-heavy diet with no problem, and another may get blood sugar spikes and gain weight from eating very few carbohydrates. Both people can be healthy, as long as they are eating within their personal tolerance levels. Talk to your healthcare collaborator about what plan is best for you. 
Mini bundt cakes with icing sugar on rack

Sugar-Free Butter- Rum Cakelets

Stacey says, “This cake comes together a little differently than most cakes, but is very moist with rum and delicious!”

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups sugar substitute of your choice

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup evaporated milk

4 large eggs

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup rum of your choice.

Directions

Add the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, sugar substitute, butter, and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed for several minutes until the mixture is crumbly and sandy-looking.

Mix in the milk. Next, mix in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each, remembering to scrape the sides of the bowl well after each egg is added.

Add the rum and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.

Pour the batter and spread it into the cavities of two cakelet pans with six cavities each.

Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 35 or 40 minutes, or until the cakes look golden brown and begin to loosen from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing.

Unmold the cakelets and, with a skewer, fork, or toothpick, prick holes into the cakelets straight down to the bottoms of each.

Butter-Rum Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar substitute of your choice

1/4 cup water

1/2 to 3/4 cup rum of your choice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Add butter, sugar substitute, and water to a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil and simmer for 7 or 8 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool completely. Add the rum and vanilla extract.

Slowly spoon the sauce over each cakelet. Cover cakelets with plastic wrap and allow to sit for several hours or overnight. The cakelets will not look glazed. They can be frozen or stored at room temperature for several days.  Yield: 12 cakelets.

 

Mr. Divabetic talks to Dr. Michael Grego, the “Keto Doc,” on this podcast with musical inspiration from legendary DJ John Loungo.

The keto diet reduces the number of carbohydrates you eat and teaches your body to burn fat for fuel instead. The keto diet is high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbohydrates. The standard keto diet consists of 70% to 80% fats, 10% to 20% proteins, and 5% to 10% carbohydrates.

Dr. Grego is a Naturopathic Physician and the author of 3 books, The Nutritional Ketogenic Diet, Clean Keto vs. Dirty Keto, and The InsulThin Diet.

Dr. Grego’s unique approach emphasizing insulin resistance and sugar has been foundational in creating the revolutionary insulThin Diet. We will discuss how he created his step-by-step nutrition blueprint for the popular Ketogenic diet.

Throughout the podcast, we feature music from The Essential John Luongo album courtesy of SONY Music.

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Dr. Julianne Arena Joins Divabetic For Our World Menopause Day Program

Dr. Julianne Arena MD, FACOG, ABAARM will participate in Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion & SugarFree Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM. She’s committed to sharing more tools for women coping with menopause and diabetes.  During the program, we invite you to ask questions you might not feel comfortable asking your healthcare collaborators. 

It’s Free – Register Now

Dr. Arena received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and graduated from Boston University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield MA. She completed a fellowship and board certification in Anti-Aging, Metabolic, and Functional Medicine, giving her the privilege of having both a traditional and an integrative healthcare perspective.

“My expertise in balancing hormones with a whole lifestyle approach, including bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), has allowed countless women to get their lives back,” says Dr. Arena.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM, Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes co-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo. Amparo discovered, quite unexpectedly, in the ER that she has diabetes after doctors told her her glucose level was over 800! Over the past six months, she’s been taking charge of managing her diabetes while facing hormonal changes during menopause – it’s a true Divabetic Victory story.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her famous Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe and shares baking tips using popular sugar substitutes in your favorite recipes.

Stacey was attending culinary school when she was diagnosed with diabetes. She thought her career was over, not to mention her lifetime love affair with desserts. Her devastation gave way to innovation, resulting in the inventive and simple substitution system presented in her book. Stacey Harris, a caterer specializing in pastries, has been baking and collecting recipes since she was a teenager. She is a member of The American Diabetes Association, and her baking techniques have been featured in their magazine, Diabetes Forecast. Her book, Sugar-Free Sweets, is available now.

The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

REGISTER NOW 

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Ozempic And Kidney Disease: What’s The Scoop?

The Morning Talk shows announced a new study shows Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic may delay the progression of kidney disease in diabetes patients.

By now, everyone knows that the injectable Ozempic can help manage blood sugars and reduce weight. Its growing popularity in Hollywood as a ‘miracle weight loss drug’ limited supplies and made it difficult for people with Type 2 diabetes to refill their prescriptions.
Keke Palmer, Amy Schumer, Stassi Schroeder, and more celebrities who’ve talked about their use — or hate — of semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
Tracy Morgan, who is living with type 2 diabetes, said,” “I went and got a prescription, and I got Ozempic. And I ain’t letting it go … It cuts my appetite in half. Now I only eat half a bag of Doritos” on Today with Hoda and Jenna.
Novo Nordisk is asking health professionals not to prescribe Ozempic to new patients unless there are no suitable alternatives or there is a compelling clinical reason to do so to conserve supply for patients who are already stabilized on this medicine and who do not have suitable alternatives.
Sadly, one-third of people with type 2 diabetes develop chronic kidney disease because of damage to blood vessels and filtering cells in the organ, according to reports. So it makes sense that Ozempic can help reduce one of the health complications related to mismanaged type 2 diabetes: kidney disease progression. 
 
The once-weekly injection already has Food and Drug Administration approval as a preventive treatment for heart attacks and strokes, a major cause of death and hospitalization in people with Type 2 diabetes.
 
The trial, which began in 2019, enrolled 3,500 people with diabetes and kidney disease and assigned them to either Ozempic or a placebo for up to a planned five years. Researchers followed the enrollees to detect a drop in kidney filtering rates, end-stage kidney disease, or death from either kidney or cardiovascular disease.

 
The newscasters also mentioned that Ozempic may help with addiction issues. 

Join us for Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & SugarFree Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM. It’s FREE.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM,  Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes co-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her famous Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe and shares baking tips using popular sugar substitutes in your favorite recipes.

The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

FREE PROGRAM – REGISTER NOW

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World Menopause Day Event on Zoom

Join us for Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & SugarFree Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM. It’s FREE.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM,  Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes co-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo.

 

Amparo discovered, quite unexpectedly, in the ER that she has diabetes after doctors told her her glucose level was over 800! Over the past six months, she’s been taking charge of managing her diabetes while facing hormonal changes during menopause – it’s a true Divabetic Victory story.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her famous Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe and shares baking tips using popular sugar substitutes in your favorite recipes.

Stacey was attending culinary school when she was diagnosed with diabetes. She thought her career was over, not to mention her lifetime love affair with desserts. Her devastation gave way to innovation, resulting in the inventive and simple substitution system presented in her book. Stacey Harris, a caterer specializing in pastries, has been baking and collecting recipes since she was a teenager. She is a member of The American Diabetes Association, and her baking techniques have been featured in their magazine, Diabetes Forecast. Her book, Sugar-Free Sweets, is available now.

One lucky winner will win a Divabetic Prize at the end of the program.

The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

FREE PROGRAM – REGISTER NOW

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The Golden Bachelor Is Unapologetic About Hearing Aids &

In “The Golden Bachelor,” 72-year-old Gerry Turner isn’t afraid to be seen wearing hearing aids in both ears. He said he is “happy to display them” and not hide his hearing loss for appearance’s sake.

The World Health Organization reports nearly 50 million people in the US suffer from hearing loss-related issues, and more than 4 million people rely on hearing aids.

Many people suffering from hearing loss claim to feel a sense of exclusion, loneliness, embarrassment, and even depression. Recent studies have revealed that out of 10 people, 7 of them reported an improvement in their relationships thanks to using hearing aids.

Research conducted by Johns Hopkins shows a clear connection between mental health and hearing loss. Also, the minor stages of untreated hearing issues are linked to a higher risk of developing dementia and cognitive decline.

Did you know that diabetes can also cause nerve damage in your ears?

Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage small blood vessels and nerves in the inner ear. Low blood sugar over time can damage how the nerve signals travel from the inner ear to your brain. Both types of nerve damage can lead to hearing loss.

What should I do if I suspect a hearing loss?

Talk to your primary care doctor. You may then want to seek help from a hearing specialist like an audiologist, a licensed hearing aid dispenser, or a doctor specializing in hearing problems. You’ll learn more about your hearing loss from a complete hearing exam. You will also be told what can be done to treat it.

Diabetes and menopause can team up to have various effects on your body. Knowing what to expect and how to manage it is what we will be discussing in Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & Sugar-Free Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM,  Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes co-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo.  Amparo discovered, quite unexpectedly, in the ER, that she has diabetes after doctors told her her glucose level was over 800! Over the past six months, she’s been taking charge of managing her diabetes while facing hormonal changes during menopause – it’s a true Divabetic Victory story.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her popular Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe.

One lucky winner will win a Divabetic Prize at the end of the program.
The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

FREE – REGISTER NOW

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Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & SugarFree Baking Demonstration 

Diabetes and menopause can team up to have various effects on your body. Knowing what to expect and how to manage it is what we will be discussing in Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & SugarFree Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM,  Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetes co-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo.  Amparo discovered, quite unexpectedly, in the ER, that she has diabetes after doctors told her her glucose level was over 800! Over the past six months, she’s been taking charge of managing her diabetes while facing hormonal changes during menopause – it’s a true Divabetic Victory story.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her popular Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe.

One lucky winner will win a Divabetic Prize at the end of the program.
The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

FREE – REGISTER NOW

We’re sharing excerpts of interviews from our favorite Divabetic podcasts over the years.

This excerpt is from our January 2023 podcast with international yoga teacher and author Rachel Zinman, who lives with Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults LADA diabetes. (LADA) is a type of diabetes that starts in adulthood and slowly gets worse over time. Like type 1 diabetes, LADA happens when the pancreas stops making insulin. That’s usually because an autoimmune process is damaging cells in the pancreas.

In her book, Yoga for Diabetes, Rachel Zinman shares her journey and the hard-won wisdom gained from her own experience of yoga and diabetes. Read how her yoga and meditation practices helped her to overcome years of frustration and confusion about managing her diabetes. Listen to Divabetic’s full interview with Rachel Zinman and her guided meditation, “Compassion Meditation,” focusing on self-love and compassion to help inspire you with a new attitude.

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How Do Perimenopause and Menopause Affect Women with Diabetes?

When you have your period, your estrogen and progesterone hormones are fluctuating and can affect how your body responds to insulin. During perimenopause, many women experience periods that are heavier or lighter, longer or shorter than usual. This is caused by the imbalance of progesterone and estrogen. For women with diabetes, the higher levels of estrogen can improve insulin sensitivity. However, higher levels of progesterone can cause insulin resistance. When your menstrual cycle is less predictable, you can expect your diabetes to be less stable on some days than others.

READ MORE 

We discuss the signs, symptoms and diabetes health-related issues of Menopause with special guest, Dr. Andrea Chisholm on this free Divabetic podcast.

Menopause happens naturally with age. But it can also happen as a result of surgery, treatment of a disease, or illness. In these cases it is called induced menopause or premature ovarian failure.

When menopause happens naturally, it tends to happen on average at the age of 51. But for some women it can happen before age 40. this is called premature menopause. The age when women enter menopause is thought to be mostly determined by their genes.

Andrea Chisholm, M.D. is a Board Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist practicing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Chisholm graduated from Hunter College-CUNY (1991) and Boston University School of Medicine (1995). She completed her OB/GYN residency at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City (1999). Dr. Chisholm has been providing general gynecologic and obstetrical care to a diverse population of women over the last sixteen years.

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What Every ‘Divabetic’ Should Know About Menopause

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According to a recent article published in the New York Daily News  women in perimenopause and menopause don’t realize they have diabetes. The symptoms of diabetes can be confused with symptoms of menopause including frequent urination, night sweats, anxiety, mood swings, foggy thinking, dry itchy skin, and vaginal infections.

In general, women with diabetes lose more years of life than men do. And while the death rate for women with diabetes has risen dramatically since the 1970s, it hasn’t risen for men with the disease. It’s estimated that girls born in the year 2000 have more than a 1 in 3 chance of getting diabetes in their lifetime.

Overweight women at any age with any one of the following risk factors should also be checked for diabetes: inactive, have a first-degree relative with diabetes, have polycystic ovaries, delivered a baby over 9 pounds, have high blood pressure above 140/90 or take blood pressure medication, have low good cholesterol. Be sure to measure your blood sugar regularly.

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Divabetic (divabetic.org)  is a national diabetes organization dedicated to women.

LISTEN NOW: On the Mr. Divabetic Show: That State Of Women’s Health  we’re talking about the state of women’s equality and diabetes and sexual health post-election. While the outcome of the Presidential election means different things to different people, it is no secret that many of the words, values, and behaviors Americans have heard and seen during this election have deeply affected many people, including women.

Did you know that women are more likely than men to suffer from mental illnesses such as anxiety and PTSD?  Also, the numbers show us that women have not historically enjoyed the same power and privilege as men. For some women, the result may be a subtle but constant sense of vulnerability and vigilance.

From reproductive rights to Medicare coverage, there could be a lot of policy changes impacting US women over the next four years. Additionally, many women may feel threatened from hearing about a powerful leader’s many sexual assault accusations and the rising incidents of hate crimes post-election.

Guests include: Dr. Andrea Chisholm OBGYN, Peak 10 Skincare founder and Domestic Violence Advocate Connie Elder, Poet Lorraine Brooks, We Are Diabetes organization founder, Asha Brown, Mary Ann Hodorowicz RD, CDE and the President of Women in Government Relations, Kathryn Schubert.

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from Leona Lewis’ “Christmas, with Love” album courtesy of SONY Music.

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