What You Can Learn from These
Celebrities Living with Diabetes

It's amazing how many people who are celebrities are also diabetics. It doesn't make a difference how famous you are- if you have diabetes, you still face the same problems and challenges as other diabetics. Sometimes, it's comforting and helpful to know that people with diabetes can, in fact, survive even in the spotlight when we are struggling with our everyday challenges. Following are two celebrities and their stories:

Snowboarding

Did you know that Sean Busby, champion Olympic snowboarder is a diabetic? Sean is nationally ranked and is best known for the Slalom and Giant Slalom. His dedication and determination have brought him to the top of his game. In 2004, after Sean had moved to Steamboat, Colorado with the Winter Sports Club, he suddenly lost 23 pounds and suffered a bad case of pneumonia. He felt very unwell and after a medical exam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Sean doesn't let the disease get him down. He knows that it will remain with him for the rest of his life, and he volunteers with juvenile diabetes associations to help children who suffer from the disease. He continues to compete as a snowboarder and has established “Riding on Insulin Snowboard Camps” for children with diabetes. For more about Sean and his efforts to help kids, visit http://www.ridingoninsulin.com.

Entertainment

Another surprising diabetic is Halle Berry. She overcame racism to excel in just about everything from academics to extracurricular activities. She was Miss Ohio in 1986 and chose to go into acting. While performing on Living Dolls, a television show, in 1989, Halle when went into a diabetic coma. She had diabetes and didn't even know it. The diagnosis: Type 1 diabetes.

She went on to become a star in a variety of roles in such films as X-Men and Die Another Day. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball in 2001. She was the first African-American to win the award. She talks freely about her diabetes and volunteers for the Juvenile Diabetes Association.

Other Celebrities Who Have Diabetes

James Brown, “The Godfather of Soul”
Johnny Cash, “The Man in Black”
Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead
Mike Huckabee, Candidate for President defeated in the primaries by John McCain in 2008
Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court judge
Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather
Wilford Brimley, of television and films, “Cocoon” and “The Firm”
J. Anthony Brown, actor (“Drumline”), comedianDelta Burke, of television’s “Designing Women”
Nell Carter, of the television show “Gimme a Break”
Dick Clark, television emcee, producer
Stephen Furst, actor on the television shows “St. Elsewhere” and “Babylon 5”
Dorian Gregory, actor (“Charmed,” “The Other Half”)
Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999
Zippora Karz, former New York City Ballet soloist, ballet teacher
Larry King, talk show host
Jerry Lewis, comedian, telethon host
Jerry Mathers, actor of “Leave It To Beaver” fame
Mary Tyler Moore, actress and star of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

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