HJBR Sep/Oct 2019

Healthcare Journal of BATON ROUGE I  SEP / OCT 2019 37 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalBR.com director, added, “The chapter program has grown exponentially under Tim’s leadership and we are immensely grateful for his contributions. He truly embodies our motto of ‘Progress Through Shar- ing’ and was a natural choice for the 2019 Global Achievement Award.” “Tim is an invaluable member of the Radiology Associates team. His untiring work ethic and ded- ication to our mission have been essential com- ponents of our success,” says Dr. Scott Schuber, an interventional radiologist and managing part- ner. “It comes as no surprise he has made similar contributions in his service to the RBMA. Hats off to a job well done!”” “It is an honor and a privilege to serve along- side members of the RBMA community,” Tim Bar- rett says. “I am very grateful for receiving such prestigious recognition.” Teri Fontenot Receives Health Hero Award fromLouisiana Department of Health  Teri Fontenot has received the Health Hero Award from the Louisiana Department of Health. The award, given by Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary of the Department of Health, recognizes individu- als for their commitment to improving the health of Louisiana’s residents. “We recognize Teri for dedicating her career to serving others. Her stewardship over the remark- able expansion of the nation’s only independent, nonprofit women’s hospital over the past 23 years has been a tremendous asset to our state,” said Gee. Fontenot served as the chief executive officer at Women’s Hospital in Baton Rouge for 23 years until her recent retirement. “Teri’s passion for women’s health has left an indelible mark on Louisiana, and the health of our residents will benefit for many years to come,” Gee said. Extra Vitamin DDoes Not Significantly Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk A national clinical trial found that vitamin D sup- plements do not significantly reduce the likeli- hood of developing type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for the disease. “This study is important because so many peo- ple in Louisiana, the United States, and the world live with type 2 diabetes. Even more people have prediabetes and are at risk for developing the disease. While the study did not show a signifi- cant difference in delaying type 2 diabetes with vitamin D supplementation in certain people, it does provide a path for future research in those with low vitamin D levels,” said Dr. Daniel Hsia, assistant professor at LSU’s Pennington Biomed- ical Research Center and local site investigator. The “Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d)” study was the largest clinical trial to specifically examine whether vitamin D can help prevent the progression from prediabetes to diabetes. The D2d study included 2,423 people at high risk for diabetes from 22 centers across the country. Pen- nington Biomedical served as one of the trial cen- ters and enrolled 49 volunteers. Approximately 575,000 Louisiana residents have diabetes, and nearly 1.3 million are at high risk for developing the disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 30 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, and 84 million more are at high risk for develop- ing the disease. “While observational studies indicated a con- nection between higher vitamin D levels and reduction of type 2 diabetes risk, our large clin- ical trial did not find statistically significant evi- dence that vitamin D supplementation lowers the risk of diabetes in the general prediabetes popu- lation,” said Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas, endocrinol- ogist and co-director of the Diabetes and Lipid Center at Tufts Medical Center, and primary inves- tigator of the D2d study. During the D2d study, participants were given either 4,000 units of vitamin D per day or a pla- cebo. The study participants received blood tests – twice per year for an average of two-and-a-half years – to monitor for the development of diabe- tes. The vitamin D group did not experience any negative effects of supplementation. Their risk of kidney stones, high blood calcium or reduced kidney function did not increase. However, vita- min D also failed to reduce the risk of diabetes by the target level of 25 percent or more in the total study population. The results of the study were released at the American Diabetes Association’s 79th Scien- tific Sessions in San Francisco. The New Eng- land Journal of Medicine published study results online at the same time. Pittas said the way the body responds to vita- mins, like vitamin D, probably depends on a per- son’s vitamin levels. About 80 percent of the D2d participants’ vita- min D levels were considered sufficient by U.S. nutritional standards at the start of the study, Pit- tas said. This high percentage may have reduced D2d’s ability to detect an overall benefit of vita- min D in the total study population. However, when the researchers looked at only participants with prediabetes who also had very low vitamin D levels when they joined the study, vitamin D supplementation appeared to reduce the risk of diabetes. “But since only about four percent of the study participants had low levels of vitamin D initially, no firm conclusions can be drawn and further research is needed to confirm this preliminary observation,” said Pittas. Health Hero Award Teri Fontenot has received the Health Hero Award from the Louisiana Department of Health. The award, given by Dr. Rebekah Gee, secretary of the Department of Health, recognizes individuals for their commitment to improving the health of Louisiana’s residents.