BURLINGTON, MA—New England’s two prominent physicians and a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator will participate in a panel discussion that will focus on diabetes and diabetic diet at Mega Health Expo on April 3 in Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.

Dr. Om Ganda

Dr. Om Ganda, MD, Medical Director of the Lipid Clinic, and Chair of the Clinical Oversight Committee at Joslin Diabetes Center, will talk about “Some Myths and Facts About Diabetes Prevention and Treatment.” Dr. Neelima Singh, a specialist in Endocrinology and Diabetes at North Shore Physicians Group, will focus on “Dealing with Diabetic Complications.” Sangeeta Pradhan, a registered Dietician, and Diabetes Educator and Diabetes Coordinator at Charles River Medical Associates, will talk about “Diabetic Diet With an Indian Spin.”

The panel will be moderated by Dr. Priti Saini, MD, of Lahey Health.

Dr. Singh, a board certified specialist in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, diabetes and Metabolism, said that patients with diabetes require ongoing evaluation for diabetes-related complications, and management of diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, and diabetes-related complications is equally important.

Dr. Neelima Singh

“We need to check blood pressure and examine the feet at every visit and refer patients for a dilated eye exam annually. We measure A1C every three to six months, fasting lipids and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio annually,” Dr. Singh said. “Morbidity from diabetes is a consequence of both macrovascular disease and microvascular disease (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy). The progression of these complications can be slowed with interventions such as aggressive management of sugars, blood pressure, and lipids.”

She said these interventions appear to be reducing the incidence of several diabetes-related complications, including heart attacks, stroke, lower-extremity amputation, and end-stage renal disease.

“In my presentation, I will discuss the long lasting complications of diabetes, which will help us realize the entire spectrum of diabetes related morbidity and mortality and ways to avoid it,” said Dr. Singh, . who has been practicing Endocrinology at NSPG, Lynn, affiliated with North Shore Medical Center, since 2009.said.

Dietician Pradhan said that food landscape has changed dramatically in the last century along with lifestyles.

Sangeeta Pradhan

“Rapid urbanization and economic development both in India and abroad including the US, has led to increasingly sedentary lifestyles and the consumption of highly processed foods, high in undesirable fats, refined carbohydrates, excess sodium as well as sugar,” Pradhan said. “Indians have a genetic susceptibility to a phenomenon called insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome. The adverse impact of a westernized diet and lifestyle simply exacerbate the risk of developing this condition.  Yet, both diet and lifestyle are potentially modifiable risk factors.”

In her presentation at the diabetes panel, Pradhan, will provide the audience with a focused overview on how one can modulate this key risk factor, the Indian diet, to reduce the risk of metabolic disease. She will discuss contributing factors that promote insulin resistance and specific steps, using diet, that one can take to prevent, and/or slow down the progression of diabetes, as the case might be.