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“Author and speaker who has lived with diabetes for 40+ years explains this misunderstood disease with real world insights.”
Friends…neighbors…relatives…everyone else. Chances are they either have diabetes or know someone who does. It’s also likely they don’t understand the disease and believe untrue things about it. Misperceptions are dangerous because they cause some diabetics to ignore the disease and others to deal with it ineffectively. Both cases end in tragedy. TV ads imply that medications fix the problem. Actually, they help but diet and exercise remain critical. Overweight people fear getting the disease and being blamed for it. In fact, most overweight people never become diabetic while many thin people do.
I’m not a medical professional but I have diabetes. My view is from the grassroots, which is where consequences are experienced by real people. Harmful myths have been around for generations but much of the problem comes from misleading messaging by the medical and pharmaceutical communities. Technically the information isn’t wrong but it gives impressions that are.
The world of diabetes is a confusing place filled with information that’s right, wrong or misleading. You can't know what’s true without understanding what diabetes is, how it begins and why diet, exercise and medications play roles in managing it. Explaining these things is what I bring to the table.
People generally know two things about diabetes. First, it's dangerous and second, they don't know much about it. I wrote The Diabetes Book: What Everyone Should Know to share the facts with everybody, diabetic or not. Feedback from the book prompted me to create the Challenge Diabetes Program. CDP informs diabetics, those who care about them and anyone who wants to learn the facts.
To improve outcomes we need to educate diabetics, dispel the stigma, give diabetics who fight it the respect they deserve and encourage those who don’t to take it seriously. Creating a supportive social environment is the key and podcasts are a tremendous way to reach diverse people. This disease has no boundaries and every community is affected by it.
I explain diabetes in everyday language and illustrate it with real-life stories so it's enlightening, useful and even fun. Better yet, one podcast will enable listeners to help change things.
