Contact: Aimee Casey, Executive Director FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Telephone #: 205.870.5172, Ext. 3070
E-mail: acasey@diabetes.org
NEW BLOG: DIABETES STOPS HERE: LIVING WITH DIABETES; INSPIRED TO STOP IT
Stopping Diabetes but Moving Along With Change
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 13, 2010) On October 11, 2010, the American Diabetes Association started their first nation-wide blog Diabetes Stops Here: Living with Diabetes; Inspired to Stop It that helps those who are involved with diabetes to voice their stories about their dealings with this epidemic.
The association’s Dayle Kern, Manager, Communications who has lived with type 1 diabetes for nearly 10 years will be the blog’s author sharing the stories, interviews and news of those affected by diabetes.
“There have been so many touching moments in the movement to Stop Diabetes since we launched last year,” commented Larry Hausner, CEO, American Diabetes Association according to diabetes.org. “People have shared courageous stories of facing their diabetes head on, while others have shared their heart-breaking experiences of losing a loved one because of diabetes. The blog is a new way to raise our collective voices and tell people why we need to Stop Diabetes once and for all.”
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Executive Director, Aimee Casey expressed, “This blog will allow everyone to hear stories of everyday people struggling with diabetes and the strength it takes for them to live their lives; which I hope will persuade readers to help To STOP DIABETES in order to ease the burden on those affected by getting involved in local programs and events.”
The first post which is entitled “Why ‘Stop Diabetes’?” gives information on why the movement against diabetes is called Stop Diabetes while also providing an interview from someone who is affected by diabetes which one can visit the website for further details at www.diabetesstopshere.org.
This blog will give the general public a more in-depth look on the lives and everyday struggles against diabetes in which additional sponsors will join in the fight so that a cure can be found for the millions affected by it.
The ‘Stop Diabetes’ movement here in Birmingham has taken the form of the Step Out: Walk to fight diabetes, which has raised over $145,000 so far through with our local walks in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala. Two additional walks will be conducted in Huntsville (October 30) and Montgomery (November 6) as well as our African-American Program Diabetes Workshop (November 13) to further help inform the public of your movement.
According to the 2008 BRFSS (Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System), Alabama ranks #3 in the nation for the prevalence of diabetes while Jefferson County has the highest prevalence of diabetes in the state at 12.6%. Diabetes affects 400,000 people in the state, which is approximately 1 in 10. The communities of: Eastlake, North Birmingham, Woodlawn, West End, Ensley, and Bessemer have a higher concentration of diabetes. If current trends continue, 1 in 3 children born after the year 2000 will develop diabetes in his/her lifetime; minority children have a disproportionate risk of 1 in 2.
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The American Diabetes Association in Alabama/Mississippi is based in Birmingham. This chapter has been involved with social media for a while. You can check out local information at http://adaalabama.wordpress.com/ or follow on twitter and facebook @ADAAlabama.
The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization supporting diabetes research, information and advocacy. Founded in 1940, the Association has offices in every region of the country, providing services to more. November is American Diabetes Awareness month.
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