Don Francisco urges you to take heart in type 2 diabetes

If you’re not doing it for yourself, do it for your family and loved ones; Don Francisco urges you to take heart with diabetes to keep your family healthy and prevent the sometimes deadly effects of this devastating disease.

In case you didn’t know, diabetes is one of the top three diseases that harm Latinos the most, with 3.2 million Hispanics suffering from the disease. That’s why the legendary TV show host is being proactive and is launching the “Cuida Tu Don” website,  creating a resource for Latinos and anyone in general who wants to learn how to prevent diabetes and how to keep your glucose levels under control if you’ve already been diagnosed. As someone who knows a thing or two about diabetes ? Don Francisco has been living with Type 2 for 14 years ? he felt this was his calling to help improve the health of Latinos.

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“There’s a lot of people that have diabetes, and they’re not even aware they have diabetes!” Don Francisco told Saludify in an interview during the website launch.

The problem is even more alarming if you realize Hispanics have a higher genetic predisposition to this condition, which is also commonly referred to as high sugar.

On the “Cuida Tu Don” website Don Francisco appears in a series of informational videos, interviewing doctors, and testimonials from Latinos who have diabetes.

“It tells you how to find the warning signs, the yellow lights, and red lights that signal the presence of diabetes,” said Don Francisco.

During his talk with VOXXI’s Saludify, one of our questions inspired Don Francisco to undertake a new project that he says will be in the works on the site: to inspire young Latinos to convince their parents and relatives to get screened early for diabetes and seek a doctor’s advice. This is a huge challenge for immigrant families, because statistically, there’s more distrust of doctors among older generations of Latinos.

It’s already had a negative impact among Hispanic patients who suffer cancer, which along with diabetes and hypertension represent three of the biggest threats to the health of Latinos. A Study by the Moffitt Cancer Center indicates Hispanics and non-college-educated patients are almost twice as likely to report feeling used as “guinea pigs” by medical health professionals when compared to non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks.

“This is a great idea, to dedicate ourselves to targeting youth; I will talk to the creative forces behind the website so that they create a section dedicated to how younger generations can take the first steps to motivate their parents and future generations (to take care of their diabetes),” he told Saludify.

You’re welcome Don Francisco.

We’re gonna hold you up to it Mario Kreutzberger, which by the way is the TV host’s real name. We’re going to need tips on how to convince mami, papi, abuela and abuelo that the doctor is there to help them and could even save their life from the ugly effects of diabetes: blindness, heart disease and even death.

So how exactly does Don Francisco stay healthy for so many years, recording the three hours long weekly show without skipping a beat? The answer is simple.

“I do what my doctors say, and what this website says,” Kreutzberget told Saludify.

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This includes eating six smaller meals a day, checking his blood glucose level every morning, watching what he eats, and exercising religiously, which by the way is among the many tips you can find on this resourceful website.