Posts Tagged ‘American Diabetes Association’

Brendan Foley
Brendan
Foley

Tour de Cure: Getting Active for a Worthy Cause

Friday, June 8th, 2012

Being a “Spectrumite” goes beyond the work we do for our clients. Whether it’s bettering the community through service or participating in the Spectrum Fitness Challenge, I’ve learned major changes start with the small choices we make every day.

This past Sunday started with my decision to obey the alarm clock at 4:45 a.m. and put on a cycling jersey for the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure. By 6:45 a.m. team Spectrum Spokes Persons embarked on an 81-mile bike ride along the Northern Virginia countryside.

And with charity event season in full swing, here are some tips for making your own fitness challenge a little more enjoyable for everyone involved:

  • Everyone likes a challenge. Whether it’s 81 miles on a bike or breaking the 25-minute mark on a 5k charity run, it’s always best to reach for a personal milestone. Friends and family enjoy hearing that they played a small role in helping you achieve a fitness goal. Be sure to update them on your training and fundraising progress.
  • Make it personal. As we pedaled along the route I thought about my brother Corey and the 26.7 million other Americans who are also living with diabetes. Climbing those hills at mile 44 didn’t seem quite as bad when I considered all the things my brother does on a daily basis just to stay healthy. It was motivating to learn how many people also have a close connection to diabetes.

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jseng
John
Seng

It’s Your Wake-Up Call

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Are you or are those you know at risk for diabetes? It’s easier than you think to find out.

American Diabetes Association Alert Day is this March 22. As chair of the National Capital Community Leadership Board for ADA, I’ve deployed all my social media skills to get the word out, and that includes this contribution to The Full Spectrum Blog. (I need to set a good, virtual example, you know, and Spectrum has a great, long-standing relationship with ADA.)

It’s a one-day “wake-up” call asking Americans to take the Diabetes Risk Test to find out if they are at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. I took the test and fortunately, my risk is low, as you can see in my report here. (There’s even a button to click to listen to the risk report.)

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Posted in Disease Awareness, Health 2.0, Public Health, Social Media, Technology
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jseng
John
Seng

Getting Hip To Stopping Diabetes

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Photo by Michael Murphy

Photo by Michael Murphy

I spent this past Father’s Day morning riding 20 miles with my son Bobby on our bikes in the National Capital Tour de Cure in Reston, Virginia. No breakfast in bed for me!

Over the past eight years, Spectrum has sponsored our “Spokes Persons” team in the American Diabetes Association‘s annual ride to stop diabetes. Tour de Cure rides take place throughout the U.S. each year.

Diabetes is not a “sexy” or trendy disease. It’s not as socially “hip” as breast cancer, in the sense that hundreds of thousands of people walk or run or ride to raise hundreds of millions of dollars that flow to diabetes research and survivor organizations, as happens with breast cancer. What’s breast cancer got that diabetes doesn’t?

For starters, breast cancer deeply scares people, affects mostly women, tugs at our emotions, and generally gets our attention in a big way when we hear about a friend or family member with a diagnosis. And breast cancer reigns supreme among awareness, advocacy and funding.

Too far down the respect scale, too many of the people afflicted with or at risk of diabetes don’t understand the severity of the illness. There’s a lack of fear due to a lack of education, real appreciation for the devastation diabetes can cause. We are nationally unobsessed with diabetes, unfortunately. (more…)

Posted in Chronic Disease, Disease Awareness, Fundraising
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kmaynard
Katherine
Maynard

Chronic Monday: Diabetes and Behavioral Economics

Monday, March 8th, 2010

This is the first in our series titled “Chronic Monday,” which will highlight pertinent issues in the chronic disease community.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, learning that you are about to develop diabetes isn’t enough to trigger the behavior changes necessary to stave off the disease.  Compounding the challenge for prevention advocates is this statistic: approximately one of every three adults in America are prediabetic, but less than 10 percent of them are aware of it. As many of us already know, diabetes is one serious disease with life threatening implications. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 65% of people with diabetes will die from heart disease or stroke. (more…)

Posted in Chronic Disease, Disease Awareness, Public Health
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jseng
John
Seng

It’s Never Too Late, Not Even 38

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Sometimes, there’s no better way to start the day than with some good, old-fashioned publicity. That happened early this morning when Spectrum VP Amanda Sellers dropped by to ask me if I’d seen today’s WASHINGTON POST article mentioning the National Capital Tour de Cure that our firm is sponsoring. I had not, and still haven’t seen the print version, but reading the article online completely made my day! (I’m chairing the ride.)

Read the story of 38-year-old American Diabetes Association employee Sara Sklaroff, who committed herself to the fundraising ride for diabetes before she even learned to ride a bike!

Hopefully by Sunday, June 14, Sara’s courage and passion will have infected thousands of other Washington-area people with diabetes and their friends and family enough to register and ride in Tour de Cure.

If diabetes got the respect, attention and funding support that cancer does, maybe we’d all be closer to finding a cure. Please join or support Spectrum’s “Spokes Persons” Tour de Cure team.

-John Seng, President and Founder

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