SA JOURNAL OF DIABETES & VASCULAR DISEASE
EDITORIAL
VOLUME 9 NUMBER 3 • SEPTEMBER 2012
103
Correspondence to: Dr Landi Lombard
Netcare Kuilsrivier Hospital, Cape Town
Tel: +27 0(21) 900-6350
e-mail:
S Afr J Diabetes Vasc Dis
2012;
9
: 103.
S
peaking to colleagues, it is alarming to see how pressurised
most healthcare professionals are in the current healthcare
environment. This is especially true for our colleagues
in private practice where high patient volumes, administrative
burdens, medical funders and health politics are affecting most of
us and undermining our morale and excellent healthcare system.
We’re stressed out and struggle to find a balance between practice
and personal life, including family responsibilities. Many of us battle
to stay motivated to do the job we studied so hard for and thought
we were called to do.
I have just returned from the annual Centre for Diabetes
Education (CDE) conference. It is always worthwhile attending this
conference, which is of a very high standard. Conferences such as
these are important for updating our knowledge but are so much
more than that. It’s also about the interaction between colleagues
and friends, sharing the tips and struggles of daily practice and
getting re-motivated to once again go out there and do the best
we possibly can for our patients.
Personally, I find the inspiration given by excellent talks offered
by colleagues at these conferences to be highly motivational and
one of the greatest benefits of these gatherings. Some speakers
have the gift to inspire their colleagues to another level and help
us to once again focus on the importance of our job as healthcare
professionals.
It helps us to then inspire our patients to improve their health.
After all, this is why we became healthcare professionals, but this
noble calling can so easily get engulfed by the burdens of daily
practice.
This edition focuses on the young and the elderly and once
again contains some excellent articles. Prof Rayner, one our local
experts, gives a balanced view on the differences and similarities
between the SEMDSA and Hypertension Society guidelines.
Although there are only small differences between the guidelines,
these two societies could improve their communication in future so
as not to give a confusing message to practitioners who are already
overloaded with multiple guidelines for many of the different
medical conditions they see.
The article by Prof Musabayane on the medicinal value of some
African plants in hypertension and diabetic renal disease was
Preventing burnout: the inspiration of local meetings
Landi Lombard
completely new to me and very informative. This is also backed up
by some animal studies. Wouldn’t it be exciting if we could find a
local plant with a revolutionary medicinal benefit, especially in the
field of diabetes?
A detailed report on a lecture by Dr Milton Raff on the manage-
ment of painful neuropathy (including diabetic neuropathy) should
prove very useful in the management of this very challenging
problem. It includes a complete list of pharmacological options.
There are also reports on the European hypertension and
cardiovascular protection conference, as well as the American
Diabetes Association congress (ADA Watch) and the ORIGIN trial
presented at the ADA congress.
For our diabetes educators and dieticians, Talia den Dalk has
written a fairly comprehensive article on supplements in diabetes
and the science behind it. It is unfortunate that more clinical studies
are not available to back up the use of these supplements, which
make so much physiological sense.
The most recent ORIGIN trial could unfortunately not support
the use of omega-3 supplements in diabetics despite the physiology
and previous smaller studies supporting its use. More of these large,
prospective trials are necessary to investigate some of the other
supplements discussed.
I must bring your attention to our diabetes personality. This is a
girl I know well and she is a true inspiration to everybody around
her, including me. She has cerebral palsy as well as type 1 diabetes
but she always has a smile on her face and an extremely positive
attitude towards life, which sometimes can be very humbling.
It's the
shell that
makes
safer.
Safety-Coated
R
81
mg
The ORIGINAL low dose aspirin
for optimum cardio-protection
Hp
Each tablet contains Aspirin 81mg. Reg.No.: 29/2.7/0767
Pharmafrica (Pty) Ltd, 33 Hulbert Road, New Centre, Johannesburg 2001
Under licence from Goldshield Pharmaceuticals Ltd. U.K.
