Thanksgiving Jfk Fo

Give thanks

Nov. 15, 2013
As we near the celebration of Thanksgiving, FOCUS Editorial Director Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS, reminds us that the holiday is a time to reflect and ponder the riches we have been given and to give thanks. She also recalls some key moments from last month’s American Dental Association Annual Session in New Orleans.
A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. ~Cicero

As we near the celebration of Thanksgiving it is a time to reflect and ponder the riches we have been given. I am thankful for health, family, friends, and my profession. I am also thankful to my four-legged friends that make my life complete, and my soul sing.

I want to send my heartfelt condolences to the people of the Philippines in the wake of the recent Typhoon Yolanda. Here is a statement from President Aquino on the aftermath of the Typhoon: “The well of strength and compassion that characterizes us as a nation has time and again proven to be bottomless. Solidarity born of faith and prayer, combined with a steadfast resolve, is showing the world that nothing can make the Filipino spirit yield.” I hope that the effects of this disaster soon diminish. To donate and help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, visit the NY Times website.(1)

If you are looking for information about a specific person in an area affected by the typhoon, Google has set up a person finder page, which can also be accessed by mobile device or text message.(2) If you have information about a specific person affected by the typhoon, you can also use the person finder page to share it.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William Arthur Ward

I recently attended the American Dental Association meeting in New Orleans. It spanned a few days, one being Halloween. Halloween in New Orleans, a real trip! Here are the Waterpik representatives, the winners of the prize for the best costume. You can see why they won!!

I attended an open hearing on dental therapist education standards, hosted by the ADA Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA). A panel of academic experts developed a set of evidence-based national standards for education programs that train midlevel providers (MLPs), aka dental therapists, in the USA. The expert panel is consists of individuals from three of the existing U.S. educational programs for MLPs; professionals in dental therapy practice in the U.S. and Canada; and authorities in the area of educational standard creation. The purpose of the standards is to assist states where legislation is being deliberated in the area of oral health workforce, and MLPs. The panel suggested the following: That dental therapists be trained to practice under the supervision of a dentist and to work collaboratively as part of a dental care team; the dental therapy curriculum must include at least two calendar years of full-time instruction or its equivalent at the postsecondary level, and graduates must receive an associate degree; if a student is to be jointly trained in dental therapy and dental hygiene, the curriculum must include at least three years of full-time instruction or its equivalent. See Section 1 of this newsletter for more information on providing testimony to CODA. November 14, 2013, was International World Diabetes Day!(3) World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated every year on November 14. The WDD campaign is led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and its member associations. It engages millions of people worldwide in diabetes advocacy and awareness. World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat that diabetes now poses. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2007 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225. The campaign draws attention to issues of paramount importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight.
A large-scale new study (announced November 13, 2013) found that reducing meat and dairy products in favor of fruits and vegetables could dramatically reduce the risk of diabetes.(4) Dr. Françoise Clavel-Chapelon's team at the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in Paris found that animal products, including meat, cheese, and egg yolks, trigger stomach acids linked to the disease. Fruits, including acidic fruits such as lemons and oranges, reduce the stomach acids before they can cause harm to the body. The study involved approximately 66,500 women (from the French center of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) over 14 years, with findings showing that those with acidic diets were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Scientists gave the subjects potential renal acid load of foods (PRAL) scores, referring to the potential renal acid load in their diets, with those with scores in the top 25 per cent having a 56 percent greater risk of getting diabetes than those in the bottom 25 percent. Meats can have a PRAL value as high as 13.2, cheeses 26.8, and fish 10.8. In contrast, fruits and vegetables have negative PRAL values. The findings, announced this week, appear in the latest issue of the journal Diabetologia.(5)
Every day should be diabetes prevention day! There is now extensive evidence on the optimal management of diabetes, offering the opportunity of improving the immediate and long-term quality of life of those with diabetes. To view the Global Guideline for Type 2 Diabetes, visit the website.(6) I wish all of you a Happy, Healthy, Thanksgiving! I am grateful to you, our loyal readers, and the professionals that make up our wonderful oral healthcare team.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~Melody Beattie

References
1. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/how-to-help-philippines-typhoon-victims/?_r=0.
2. http://google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda/.
3. http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday.
4. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/less-meat-more-fruits-and-vegetables-cut-diabetes-risk-study-1.1541549#ixzz2kYcqzLyI.
5. http://www.diabetologia-journal.org/.
6. http://www.idf.org/global-guideline-type-2-diabetes-2012.

Sincerely,

Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS

To read previous RDH eVillage FOCUS introductions by Maria Perno Goldie, click here.

To read more about giving thanks and dental hygiene, click here.