Lynn Woods

Rocker Bret Michaels Campaigns for Diabetes Prevention and Awareness

Rocker and reality TV star Bret Michaels has long been a vocal advocate for diabetes prevention and awareness, and now fronts the America Diabetes Association's movement to Stop Diabetes.

Award-winning musician, reality TV star and Celebrity Apprentice 3 winner Bret Michaels is the new "face of diabetes" for the American Diabetes Association. The multi-talented Michaels helped produce the just-released public service announcement campaign he stars in to raise awareness of November as American Diabetes Month. "As someone with type 1 diabetes, I know how difficult it can be to live with this disease, and how important it is to raise awareness so that we can eventually put a stop to diabetes," says Michaels.

Michaels, the lead singer and song writer for the popular rock band Poison, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age six. Type 1 diabetes used to be called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, because it usually develops in childhood and requires daily insulin injections.  Michaels chose the American Diabetes Association as his charity while starring on Celebrity Apprentice, raising over $300,000 for the Association and generating a great deal of awareness about the disease.

Almost 24 million American adults and children (about eight percent of population) have diabetes, the sixth leading cause of death in the US. Type 1 diabetes is a condition when the body makes little or no insulin, which the cells need to store and use a type of sugar called glucose, the body's main source of energy. When glucose can't enter the cells it circulates in the blood, resulting in high blood sugar levels.  High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, increases the risk of heart disease, blindness, circulation problems and nerve and kidney damage.

Type 2 diabetes, formerly called non-insulin dependent or adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form of the disease. Ninety to ninety-five percent of diabetics have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes two occurs when the body either does not produce enough insulin, or can not properly use the insulin it does produce.

Classic diabetes 2 symptoms are increased urination, thirst, hunger, fatigue and weight loss. Type 2 diabetes is an incurable condition that will progress if left untreated. Diabetes type 2 treatment usually involves changes in diet and regular exercise, but type 2 diabetes patients may require the use of diabetes medication as the disease progresses.

Michaels, who once collapsed onstage from low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) at MadisonSquareGarden, waking up in hospital, monitors his blood sugar levels frequently throughout the day.  To manage his condition, he takes three injections of fast-acting Humalog insulin a day, works out, and watches his diet, being careful not to eat too many carbohydrates. "I use diabetes just as one more challenge in my life" the star advises fellow diabetes patients. "You have to accept it because there is no other choice. You either do well with it or it will take over your life, and then it's not going to be so great."

Article Tags: Bret Michaels, American Diabetes, Blood Sugar

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