Tag Archives: biomarkers

Effects of Diabetes – Sucking Life & Spirit

September 3, 2017employee performance, well-being10 steps to preventing and managing diabetes, biomarkers, CDC, chronic illnesses, community health and wellness, control blood glucose, control blood sugar, corporate health, corporate wellness, David Jenkins, diabetes distress, Diabetes sucks, effects of diabetes, Fasting glucose A1C, glycemic index, how to be physically active, insulin resistance, managing prediabetes, master hormone insulin, physical activity and exercise, prediabetes, preventing diabetes, renal diseaseBestinCorporateHealth

Effects of Diabetes – Diabetes Sucks the Life out of Us

The Multigenerational Effects of Diabetes – Physiologically, emotionally, financially, community

Diabetes is all about our master hormone Insulin, and mostly caused by our lifestyles, insulin resistance. Insulin helps control blood glucose levels by signaling the liver and muscle and fat cells to take in glucose from the blood. Insulin therefore helps cells to take in glucose to be used for energy. A lack of insulin or a losing the ability to respond to insulin (insulin resistance) leads to diabetes. Insulin is our master hormone, and masters our health.

Yes diabetes sucks, it can suck the life out of us physically, emotionally and financially. The vast majority of type 2 diabetes is a product of lifestyle. Lifestyle choices are passed down in families with a far greater influence than genetics. Given our continuing diabetes epidemic – we can most efficiently break this deadly trend educating larger populations – communities and companies.

The National Diabetes Statistics Report is a publication of the CDC providing updated statistics about diabetes in the United States. The data is collected from hundreds of sources around the country. Data here is from the 2017 report:

30.3 million people, 9.4% of the U.S. population—had diabetes in 2015
This total included 30.2 million adults aged 18 years or older (12.2% of all U.S. adults), of which 7.2 million (23.8%) were unaware of or did not report having diabetes
The percentage of adults with diabetes increased with age, reaching a high of 25.2% among those aged 65 years or older
33.9% of U.S. adults aged 18 years or older (84.1 million people) had prediabetes in 2015, based on their fasting glucose or A1C level. Nearly half (48.3%) of adults aged 65 years or older had prediabetes
Among U.S. adults aged 20 years or older with diagnosed diabetes, the estimated crude prevalence of chronic kidney disease (stages 1–4) was 36.5%
In 2014, a total of 52,159 people developed end-stage renal disease with diabetes as the primary cause
Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2015

Financial Effects of Diabetes

The total direct and indirect estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States in 2012 was $245 billion
Average medical expenditures for people with diagnosed diabetes were about $13,700 per year. About $7,900 of this amount was attributed to diabetes
After adjusting for age group and sex, average medical expenditures among people with diagnosed diabetes were about 2.3 times higher than expenditures for people without diabetes

The Effects of Diabetes

Diabetic complications are far reaching:

Because diabetes ravages the blood vessels and nerves, there are no limits at all to how much of the body can be destroyed. Diabetes most directly attacks heart health, kidneys, eyes, risk of stroke. Because diabetes effects the nerves, it can destroy mobility, digestion…..and yes memory. High blood glucose levels, over a number of years, can damage the nerves, including those of the brain, which increases the risk of dementia.

Having diabetes can also cause a mental health condition called diabetes distress. This condition shares some elements of depression, mood swings, anxiety, and stress. An estimated 33 to 50 percent of people with diabetes experience diabetes distress at some point during the course of their disease.

We feel better – diabetic and non diabetics – when we control our blood sugar.

10 Steps to Preventing and Managing Diabetes

Quit smoking – and yes – lower exposure to second hand and third hand smoke
Manage Body fat levels: Body fat releases some nasty hormones creating havoc with the endocrine system
Drink water…Try not so much at meal time as it can dilute precious digestive enzymes – rather in between meals.
Muscles are your BFF in life: All exercise and regular bouts of physical activity through out the day are imperative for every aspect of mental and physical health – but muscles are NOT just for body builders. Muscles are a critical contributor to metabolism & endocrine regulation – Muscles are imperative for blood sugar control. A nasty reality of life called sarcopenia – loss of muscle mass with age – aka use it or lose it – it a perfect explanation for increase risk of diabetes as we age. It is well proven people well into there nineties and centenarians can build muscle.
Exercise & physical activity for circulation, heart health, pumping our immune system.
Nutrition: Yes to control blood sugar, but nutrition to support exercise and muscle growth. Understand glycemic Index. Unfortunately it is not law in North America to label glycemic index, but it is in many countries of the world. I’ve linked my interview with Dr. David Jenkins – father of the glycemic index
sleep well Restorative sleep – a critical component to hormone regulation
Go for regular diagnostics to our healthcare professionals
We should all know our blood sugar levels – dialogue with your healthcare professionals, review your blood tests with them. Knowing certain basic biomarkers is more vital than knowing our weight.
With all of our wonderful wearable technology – we now have devices that track valuable biomarkers of health in non invasive ways, while enjoying the fun and healthy competition of wearable trackers. Clearly – these devices do NOT replace medical diagnostics – but they can sure help us have more educated, informed conversations with our healthcare professionals.

Managing prediabetes is a great lifestyle – Unfortunately we live in a world that is very supportive of diabetes – with all of our information on controlling and preventing diabetes – we are enveloped in a world that provides an endless supply of high sugar nutritionally deprived carbohydrates, and an inaccurate view of how to be physically active and to get exercise. It is also a great way to prevent many of our other chronic illnesses – including many cancers, heart disease….. The effects of diabetes can be so insidious, the connection is frequently overlooked. We need to focus on targeting large populations of people – so we can start passing down healthier lifestyle habits as part of our legacy.

Corporate health programs…what a wonderful way to affordably make the world a happier, healthier place. Effective corporate wellness programs preventing the devastation from the effects of diabetes

Shira Litwack, Corporate Program Designer — Shira Litwack – The Corporate Happy Place medical fitness professional, Cancer Exercise Specialist , Medical Exercise Specialist, Holistic Nutritionist

Chief Health Enthusiast – Best In Corporate Health

Shira is regularly consulted by Naturopaths, oncologists, health coaches on cancer exercise and exercise adherence.
Has assembled over 20 health and fitness professionals with varying specialties to bring to corporate wellness programs
Platforms include: Speaking, One-one/group health coaching, Retreats, Course development for in house delivery, Metrics to measure success available, Partners always included
Now offering live interactive webinars, just as if each participant has a personal health coach – making corporate wellness programs affordable to all.
Shira has been interviewed & published in hundreds of resources over the last 12 years:

Articles featured in: ezines, ArticlesInk, European Registry of Exercise Professionals, The National Post, Investment Executive Magazine, Directory of Greater Toronto, Canadian Leukemia & Lymphoma Association, Prostate Cancer Canada, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Anytime Fitness, Today’s Black Woman, Today’s Seniors, Medical Fitness Network, FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), Willow (Breast & Hereditary Cancer Support),Myeloma Canada, Cancer Exercise Training Institute, Urban Poling for Breast Cancer, ROW – Recovery on Water for Breast Cancer, Sirius XM Doctor Radio

Risk Analytics with Wearable Devices

June 24, 2017employee performance, well-beingbiomarkers, bioparameters, employee health, employee risk analytics, engagement, health challenges in the workplace, health risk analytics, incentives, monitoring our health, oxidative stress, predictive analytics, productivity, quantifiable medical signs, reduce the risk, risk analytics, wearable device, wearable technology, wellness solutionsBestinCorporateHealth

Employee Risk Analytics with Wearable Devices

Risk analytics with a wearable device…..who ever dreamed! Wearable devices have come a very long way from the $5 pedometer – but hey – they gave us a great start – a thirst to develop better technology to get active and monitor our health.

Employee risk analytics allows us to investigate and identify variables, here health risks, that jeopardize our employees’ health, therefore, compromising productivity, engagement……….With the help of the analytics, we can design & help employees implement focused, targeted, sustainable measures to reduce the risk, improve their health and the health of the company.

Physicians and insurance companies are using Predictive Analytics…..Predictive analytics (PA) uses technology and statistical methods to search through massive amounts of information, analyzing it to predict outcomes for individual patients. Predictions are made for individuals, not for groups. In our scenario, we want easily obtained, yet scientific accuracy to help our employees identify any potential health risks.

It is NEVER for us to diagnose – however, if we can provide accurate data to our health care professionals, it can go a very long way.

Biomarkers are the most objective, quantifiable medical signs modern laboratory science allows us to measure reproducibly.

Body temperature is an accepted biomarker for fever. Blood pressure is used to determine the risk of stroke, heart disease, and a neon light for the potential for the development of disease. Cholesterol, triglycerides are biomarkers and risk indicators for coronary and vascular disease, and C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker for inflammation, a precursor to all of our chronic illnesses.

The chronic illnesses I’ve included in this chart – as yes, they are health threats on their own, can also lead to other chronic illnesses. These biomarkers together provide important bioparameters to our health, and when monitored can provide vital data for our own predictive risk analytics. We can encourage dialogue with health care professionals, help our employees become their own health advocate, design programs around these bioparameters, and yes of course improve the health of our company.

Getting real data, is a preemptive attack against disease.

We can encourage our employees to gather that data in a fun (call it….in style) way – wearable technology is the sport out there now. We encourage people using the universal language of today – technology – to be more proactive about their health. And we can design our health coaching models around the results of this data, combined with an HRA

Now you have real risk data, and a real proactive, based in science, wellness solution. We are now encouraging our employees, with real time data, to seek help from their medical professionals, and are going to provide them the tools and education, motivation & inspiration needed to adopt better lifestyle choices and habits.

The Human Cloud at Work Study, amongst many other studies shows us the value of wearable technology in the workplace. Wearing wearable technology increases productivity, and plays a major role in the business environment. The wearable technology revolution is here to stay for a number of years.

According to eMarketer, nearly 40 million U.S. adults over 18 used wearable technology in 2015 — a jump of 57.7 percent over 2014. The usage of wearables is projected to hit 81.7 million adults by 2018.

ABI Research: 13 million wearable devices will be integrated into corporate wellness plans over the next five years. Wearables are perceived to offer encouragement to work toward better health, without appearing to be a requirement, and apparently, 44 percent of U.S. workers are already wearing them to work.

PwC study: 49% of respondents believe that the use of wearables in the workplace will help improve efficiency and increase productivity of employees. 67% of respondents expect that the company is willing to allocate some of its budget to purchase wearables that will support productivity.

Health Risk Analytics and Wearable Technology…Connecting the Dots:

Incentives increase success of a program
Health challenges in the workplace increase participation in the wellness program & camaraderie, promoting engagement and satisfaction
Monitoring our health increases our motivation for a healthier lifestyle
Tracking biomarkers allows us to provide health care professionals valuable data
Tracking biomarkers is valuable data for the development of specific, targeted health programs
Employee health builds productivity and engagement
People are loving wearable devices
We have to make our dollars stretch. Combining employee health analytics, incentives, wellness programs, increasing engagement, health & productivity, employee satisfaction & loyalty, coaching…..all for less than cost of the wearable device.

Employers are dedicated to providing organization and structure to their company’s day to day operations, and to creating a positive work environment for employees. We have to stop with rear view wellness solutions, especially as employee demographics evolve. With the right wearable technology we can provide for proactive health and chronic illness management, necessitated by the diversity of our workforce. Wearable technology as incentives combined with customized wellness programs offers an endless goldmine of opportunities for employee engagement, increased productivity, and enhanced safety.

Our chosen wearable technology also features germanium plates. Research is showing us germanium can counteract the multiple attacks our body receives daily from our environment contributing to oxidative stress, including removing toxins, strengthening the immune system, increasing circulation, oxygenation and restoring ionic balance.

Best In Corporate Health programs have incentives, HRA, CCA, wellness program, coaching, health challenges, reporting, sustainability, access to coaches experts in their field… all built into one clean, smooth package. Revolutionize your wellness solutions.

Corporate health programs…what a wonderful way to affordably make the world a happier, healthier place.

Chief Health Enthusiast – Best In Corporate Health

Shira is regularly consulted by Naturopaths, oncologists, health coaches on cancer exercise and exercise adherence.
Has assembled over 20 health and fitness professionals with varying specialties to bring to corporate wellness programs
Platforms include: Speaking, One-one/group health coaching, Retreats, Course development for in house delivery, Metrics to measure success available, Partners always included
Now offering live interactive webinars, just as if each participant has a personal health coach – making corporate wellness programs affordable to all.
Shira has been interviewed & published in hundreds of resources over the last 12 years:

Health Tracking with Wearable Devices

May 28, 2017employee performance, well-beingaccurate measure of calorie expenditure, basal metabolic rate, biomarkers, calorie expenditure, calories burned, choosing a tracker, corporate health, corporate health culture, creating wellness programs, fitness trackers, fitness tracking, future of our children, gainweight, health and fitness, health and well-being programs, health challenges, Health Enhancement Research Organization, health tracking, healthy competition, healthy economy, lose weight, making health decisions, medical fitness, metabolic rate, optimizing our metabolism, pedometer, physical inactivity is the new smoking, proactive healthcare, productive workforce, wearable devices, Wearables in wellness, wellness case study, workplace wellness programBestinCorporateHealth

Health Tracking – The #1 Way to Promote Proactive Healthcare

Health tracking is the most motivating, effective form of health support. I am devastated when I see articles knocking them down, even if unintentionally. Not all forms of health tracking are equal in terms of data or capabilities. However, fitness trackers are powerful, and even if certain trackers may slack in certain areas – an all or none approach in anything, loses many people.

In my many years of medical fitness, corporate health….I have worked with thousands of people who feel helpless or just too busy and stressed to think about their health. I have also seen the power of fitness trackers, healthy competition -both with themselves and others.

Our wearable devices have come a very long way from the plastic pedometers in the Special K box of cereal. The variation between devices is immense. My goal here is to help sort through using the trackers effectively for adherence and sustainability, and choosing the right tracker for you or your employees.

Just an fyi…..I have looked over many of the lists comparing available health trackers……very few of these lists present all the trackers available….I don’t know…..Maybe they don’t want to compare their favoured tracker to possible competition – beware. The truth is – when choosing a tracker – know the truth – know what is important to you. What biometrics and activity would you like to track? What do you find the most motivating? What is within your budget? Some of the more celebrated devices do NOT supply the most thorough data, and are very expensive. Make your choice based on science and fact, not marketing budgets.

February 2017 study: HERO ( Health Enhancement Research Organization) Wearables in Wellness Case Study Report:

BP started incorporating wearables in 2013. More than 75% of eligible participants enrol in the company’s annual “Million Step Challenge,” and 79% reach their goal.
HERO report makes clear, wearables are most effective when employers understand their role in a larger wellness initiative………….“We see a lot of promise in the use of wearables as a component of a comprehensive workplace wellness program,” says Jessica Grossmeier, vice president of research for HERO. “Early research supports that a device, on its own, will not change health behaviors over the long term.”
Incorporate wearables into a broader program that goes beyond a single challenge focused on physical activity. Leverage interest in wearables to engage individuals in other health and well-being programs.
Provide ongoing enhancements to program design and engagement strategies, never allowing the program to feel stale.
Keep programs relevant and fresh by responding to program evaluation data and employee feedback to continuously improve your approach.
Develop goals and objectives for your program and leverage available wearables data to evaluate achievement of those goals.

Its unfortunate but the calorie somehow stole the spotlight with health and fitness. Yes, we must watch our calorie intake, and try to make sure the calories we consume feed us the nutrition we need. However, lets take a look at the painfully oversimplified equation:

Health tracking wearable devices BestInCorporateHealth.com — It’s Complicated….Very Complicated

Calories IN − Calories Burned ➾ we lose weight or gain weight

If only life were so simple….the truth is knowing these variables accurately……NO

It became very popular for many years for cardio respiratory equipment – treadmills,
ellipticals, stair climbers, bikes…..to provide “calories burned”. This number is calculated based on the weight entered at the start of the workout, age, sometimes heart rate, duration of workout, effort…..et voila – we are told the calories we burned. Again – this is calculated based on some generalized superficial data, not on the individual and their metabolic rate and other unique data such as lean muscle mass or our basal metabolic rate.

Perhaps, in our wellness programs we should focus on optimizing our metabolism by fine tuning the many factors that sabotage our best efforts. Track those variables and behaviors. Many of our “best intentions” to improve our health – actually back fire on us – causing metabolic mayhem.

Many fitness trackers do not gather the data necessary to give an accurate number of calories burned – thats totally OK – however, do not depend on this number in making health decisions. Example: Your fitness tracker told you that you just burned 1,000 calories in that 1 hour at the gym……that, sorry to burst your bubble, is not very likely. Please don’t go out and have a hunk of red velvet cake based on those numbers.

A recent study by Stanford researchers demonstrated that most fitness trackers are not accurate with calorie expenditure data. As explained above, calorie expenditure is a calculated value – determined by a number of biomarkers. If the tracker does not measure those variables – it is not going to provide the most accurate measure of calorie expenditure. If accurate calorie expenditure is the important feature of health tracking for you, choose a tracker that measures the pertinent data to make that calculation.

Physical Inactivity is the new smoking. We need to get people physically active for mind, body and soul, for the future of our children and the future of our economy. Health tracking promotes:

health… proactive, predictive and chronic care health care
a productive workforce
a healthy economy
a solid pivotal position for creating wellness programs
creating health challenges and healthy competition motivating adherence
camaraderie
corporate health culture
family health
healthy lifestyle choices
good moods and happy hormones

I am in awe that we have the technology to really monitor our health – of course wearable devices are not a replacement of medical advice and diagnostics – but they are an incredible way to take charge of our health, and finally make that move from our society of sick care to a society of true health care.

Chief Health Enthusiast – Best In Corporate Health

Employee Wellness Toronto, Ontario – But offered worldwide!

Shira is regularly consulted by Naturopaths, oncologists, health coaches on cancer exercise and exercise adherence.
Has assembled over 20 health and fitness professionals with varying specialties to bring to corporate wellness programs
Platforms include: Speaking, One-one/group health coaching, Retreats, Course development for in house delivery, Metrics to measure success available, Partners always included
Now offering live interactive webinars, just as if each participant has a personal health coach – making corporate wellness programs affordable to all.
Shira has been interviewed & published in hundreds of resources over the last 12 years: