AN ANGEL FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES, ACTRESS WILL SPEAK ABOUT HOW ADAPTING TO THE CONDITION CHANGED HER LIFE FOR THE BETTER When she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes four years ago, singer/actress/minister Della Reese knew all too well from the experiences of friends that the disease can be a death sentence. “All I knew was negative stuff, ” she said. “Ella Fitzgerald lost both of her legs and died because of diabetes. Mabel King lost both of her legs and died because of diabetes. Mahalia Jackson, my mentor, died from complications of type 2 diabetes.

DICK CLARK TAKES THE BANDSTAND TO TALK ABOUT DIABETES Dick Clark-of American Bandstand fame-has a new gig: persuading people about the dangers of diabetes and the toll it takes on your heart. Clark should know. On Tuesday, the 74-year-old TV personality told The Herald how he got the disease 10 years ago but kept quiet until late last week, when he began a campaign to raise awareness about diabetes, which affects more than 13 million Americans and is growing significantly. “Two-thirds of people with diabetes don’t even know it.   .

U. S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard M. Carmona will help kick off a diabetes initiative today that will focus on Flint and nine other communities nationwide. The Diabetes Detection Initiative: Finding the Undiagnosed, led by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, expects to reach thousands of adults at high risk for diabetes. Genesee County has the highest rate of diabetes in Michigan, with 20, 000 adults having the disease. National studies suggest easily another……   .

New Message Emerges in Treating Diabetes Eldridge Lee, a real estate broker and adjunct college professor in Fairburn, Ga. , found out that he had Type 2 diabetes more than a decade ago. But he did not take the disease seriously until two years ago, when sky-high blood pressure–a complication of diabetes–led to heart disease. “After coming out of heart surgery, I was sitting with a ventilator down my throat and had a moment of realization that the diabetes, which I had pretty much been ignoring, had led to such grave consequences.