Recent Posts in Blog Category

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | November 2024

Preparing for the Holiday Season with Diabetes! By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES Navigating the holidays with diabetes can be tricky. Holidays are full of sweets, rich meals, gravy & cocktails, but you don’t have to give up all your holiday foods this year just to have better blood sugars. Here are a few tips to enjoy your holiday without raising your A1c! Your mind is very powerful and ...

Intersections

Yesterday, the wife of one of my favorite patients reached out to me. Letting me know my patient Mr. T passed away last night. It’s the phone call we physicians dread the most. After all, we are in the business of helping people extend their lives and better their lives. I gave my deep condolences to the wife. But, at night couldn’t help but shrug the feeling off. I have been with Palm Beach ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | September 2024

Preparing for Hurricane Season with Diabetes! By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES The last few years have taught us many lessons on the importance of emergency preparedness whether it’s preparing for pandemics, hurricanes, floods and power outages. Being prepared for any emergency means stocking up on non-perishable food, water (for drinking and household use), cash, batteries and other ...

“Falling off the Wagon” in Context of Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Come Friday night and kids insist they want Pizza! Of course, you eat one slice, two or many be even three! Tastes so good, like hugging a lovely friend after a long time. You go out to catch up with your friends and order Artichoke and Spinach dip. Sounds healthy, right? And the server brings a full tray of deeply fried chips with it. “Can we replace these with carrots or celery or something?” ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | August 2024

Healthy Eating Out with Diabetes! By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES Dining out with friends and family is a fun occasion, but if you live with diabetes you may be worried how that will impact your blood sugars. Here are some tips to dining out while having great blood sugars! Focus on hydration first. Studies have shown consuming 8-16oz. prior to eating can aid in weight loss, satiety and ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | July 2024

Travel Smart with Diabetes! By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES Summer traveling is a super fun time of year and a great way to get away from the Florida heat! But along with fun travels can come challenges such as keeping insulin cool, packing medications, time changes and dining out! Here is some tips to have great blood sugars when traveling: 1. Bring extra medications! During hurricane ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | June 2024

How to Stay on Track When Traveling this Summer! By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES Summer traveling is a super fun time of year and a great way to get away from the Florida heat! But along with fun travels can come challenges to keep your blood sugars on track between dining out, BBQs, late night dining or missing meals due to travel. Here is some tips to have great blood sugars when ...

Endocrinology For Thyroid Disorders

We talk a lot about diabetes, but endocrinology encompasses many more areas. Another common reason to see endocrinology is for thyroid disorders. The thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland that sits in the base of the neck. The thyroid produces hormones that play major roles in metabolism, bone health, growth and development, and other things like mood, heart, muscle and digestive health. The ...

Keeping up with advances in Endocrinology

As busy doctors, we are seeing patients day in and day out. How does a doctor keep up with changing medical landscape? My most favorite thing to catch up with all advances in field of Endocrinology, is to attend Endocrine Society meetings. There are two major clinical bodies in general endocrinology, namely Endocrine Society and American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE). Along with ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | May 2024

Can you Lower Blood Sugar By Increasing Fiber Intake? By: Jessica Hrdlicka MS, RD, LD/N, CDCES Having adequate fiber in your diet is not only great for your heart by lowering cholesterol, but it can aid in weight loss, prevention of colon cancer and lower blood sugars! Fiber slows down digestion which creates a slower blood sugar rise after eating, increased satiety and better digestion. Having ...

Living Well with Diabetes Newsletter | April 2024

Getting Back to Basics of Diabetes It is estimated that more than 133 million people are living with diabetes or prediabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes in adults, more than 90 percent. T2DM is characterized by hyperglycemia, usually due to progressive loss of insulin secretion combined with insulin resistance, resulting in relative insulin deficiency. Many patients are ...

Summer is Almost Here! So is the Rain.

It is that time of year again. No more driving home in the dark and when you exercise after work you can see the sidewalk. For those of you in the gym, the lights are always on but for the outdoor enthusiast, it is time to get …a rainy-day plan? For those new to living in Florida, we love the winter, spring and fall months because the temperatures are great for outdoor activities. (Humidity aside; ...

Getting Back To The Basics Of Diabetes

It is estimated that more than 133 million people are living with diabetes or prediabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes in adults, more than 90 percent. T2DM is characterized by hyperglycaemia, usually due to progressive loss of insulin secretion combined with insulin resistance, resulting in relative insulin deficiency. Many patients are asymptomatic at presentation, with ...

Obesity is a public health crisis

Obesity is a significant public health crisis. It is associated with multiple metabolic conditions including type 2 diabetes (T2DM), hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and fatty liver as well as sleep apnea, arthritis, and various cancers. In the US approximately 70% of adults struggle with excess weight. Newer drug therapies are changing not only how we treat obesity, but how the ...

Osteoporosis in young adults

Osteoporosis is usually disease of older adults and post-menopausal women. It is challenging to diagnose and treat diagnosis of osteoporosis and/or diagnosis of low bone density in adults less than 50 years of age. First step is to define if it’s true clinical osteoporosis or just low bone mass on imaging. We have accelerated bone development and accrue all our bone mass by age 30 years. If for ...

Short Term Weight Loss Fixes vs Long Term Wellbeing

Nowadays, everywhere we look, there is talk of once-a-week injectable medications, obtained through various means, in order to lose weight. Conversations regarding weight loss and invariably about once-weekly slimming injections or pills have become dinner table conversations. The opinions can vary on “how come you are not on Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, etc., etc.”, to “How can you take these toxic ...

Where Do I Dispose of My Home Medical Waste?

While seeing patients, someone asked me this and I was a little taken aback. I realize we don’t really spend time talking to patients about how to manage the needles and lancets injection pens, infusion supplies etc., when in fact Endocrinology is such a subspecialty, where we use injectables so often and for so many diseases, such as dyslipidemia and osteoporosis, not just diabetes. Sharps is a ...

November is Diabetes Awareness Month

November is diabetes awareness month, which makes it a great time to review some healthy living habits and remember the importance of preventative screening related to diabetes. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in diabetics, and diabetics are twice as likely to suffer a stroke or heart disease compared to non-diabetics. We also see an increased risk of kidney disease, poor ...

Easy Workout Routines To Do At Home

As a mother of 2 and a full time doctor I find it challenging to fit a good work out into my day. Here is a quick and easy 10-20 mins work out routine one can do a few days a week at home. 20 jumping jacks 10 knee highs 15 squats 15 side leg raises 10 side lunges 20 second planks with 5 repetitions 20 gluteal raises. Working out for even 20 mins a day is beneficial for our overall health as well ...

November is Diabetes Awareness month

Did you know November is Diabetes Awareness Month? November 14 th is ‘World Diabetes Day' celebrated in honor of Dr. Frederick Banting, credited to have discovered insulin. The American Diabetic Association has been celebrating Diabetes Awareness month since 1975 in the United States. Millions of Americans are suffering from type 1 or type 2 diabetes. A lot of them are dealing with insulin ...

Understanding Fatigue

Fatigue is one of the most common reasons for patients to seek evaluation by an endocrinologist. Appropriate evaluation for endocrine and metabolic causes could include tests for hypothyroidism or adrenal insufficiency or low testosterone or vitamin B12 deficiency or iron deficiency. But frequently these tests are negative and that we need to consider other possible causes. I Infectious diseases ...

Diabetes and Microvascular Complications

It is common knowledge that patients with type 1 or type 2 DM can develop changes to their small vessels and develop complications of retina, kidneys, and nerves, named as diabetic retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. It is interesting to note, that microvascular complications are certainly associated with elevated blood glucose, poorly controlled blood pressure, and poorly controlled ...

Another Consequence of Covid: Rise in Tinnitus

A few weeks ago, I saw a patient that came to see me for evaluation of testosterone replacement. He had been told by another provider that his fatigue was likely due to low testosterone even though his levels were in range and he denied low libido (sexual drive) per se. Upon asking questions, it turns out that the fatigue was likely due to his lack of sleep which in turn he attributed to a buzzing ...

Insulin Pump Study

Insulin Pump Study Over the past 2 decades, there have been significant advances not only in the types of insulins that are available to those who require insulin to manage their diabetes (all patients with Type 1 diabetes and many of those with Type 2 diabetes), but how the insulin is delivered. Whereas in the past, insulin was stored in vials and delivered by syringes, these days patients most ...

COVID-19 and the Thyroid

COVID-19 and Autoimmune Thyroid Disease Because nearly every conversation these days seems to revolve around the topic of COVID-19, I thought I would continue the trend and try to answer some questions that I have frequently heard regarding COVID as it relates to a common endocrine condition. As both a thyroid patient and a thyroid doctor, I was interested in the topic of autoimmune thyroid ...