"We must demystify so many erroneous concepts about diabetes": the popular presenter Don Francisco speaks in the first person about the disease.

Don Francisco has known for 16 years that he is diabetic.

We are used to watching him on television with his entertainment programs and his ease to connect with an audience that has followed him for decades.

Now, the popular Chilean presenter Mario Kreutzberger, Don Francisco, relies on his ability as a communicator to talk about a very widespread disease and causes thousands of deaths a year worldwide: type 2 diabetes.

And Don Francisco knows well what he speaks: 16 years ago he himself was diagnosed with that evil.

increasingly widespread

Diabetes is a chronic disease that appears when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (the hormone that regulates blood sugar), which is known as type 1 diabetes, or when the organism does not effectively use the insulin it produces, theType 2 diabetes.

Diabetes appears when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin.

The effect of non -controlled diabetes is hyperglycemia or excess blood sugar, something that eventually damages organs and systems, especially nerves and blood vessels.

According to Don Francisco, many Latinos believe that injecting insulin will prevent them from having a normal life.
Therefore, the agency warns that, according to its projections, this condition will be the seventh cause of death in 2030.

eradicate myths

But beyond the data, there are also erroneous myths and concepts on the subject.

"There are several," says Don Francisco, and lists them like this:

In the beginning, say: "I didn't take care of myself and that's why he gave me diabetes."That is a myth, one has genetically that predisposition, although of course one can take care of it and can improve it.

Another mistake is to say: "I will stop taking the remedies that gave me because the indices are already more normal."That is a mistake because once it is diagnosed, that's forever.

And it is also common to hear: "Insulin will not allow me a normal life."Another mistake!Insulin allows you an absolutely normal life, you inject it once in the day and now.

a normal life

For Don Francisco, diabetes has not been an obstacle when continuing with his day to day.

It is my greatest interest that reaches the greatest number of people this message, that Hispanics understand this, that assume it. "

Don Francisco

"I have always taken care of myself, I have always tried to follow what the doctor has told me," he says.

"The doctor told me 'healthy coma' and I do it, as integral things only and healthy things," he explains.

"He told me to play sports and do sports, try to lose weight and I am always trying, I went down like 10 kilos."

And now the 76 -year -old presenter also intends to help others.

Don Francisco says he lives with the disease listening to what the doctor tells him.
That is why he joined "Based on Acts", a campaign of Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim laboratories to promote a healthy life and serve as a guide for diabetic people.

The initiative is aimed at the United States Hispanic community, a country in which Don Francisco lives when he is not in Chile.

"I travel, come and come back, for me it is a passion to communicate with people. I have that faithful commitment (to promote that information) that I am going to maintain it and I will try to be very successful with that," he says about it.

"It is my greatest interest that reaches the greatest number of people this message, that Hispanics understand this, to assume it," he emphasizes.

Diabetes and Latinos

According to the data of the Centers for the Control and Prevention of diseases of the US, it is expectedThat 40% of adults in the country will present type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives, and among Hispanics they will suffer 50%.

There are currently 3.2 million Hispanics living with diabetes in the US.

In addition, according to the Minority Health Office in the US, members of that community have 50% more likely to die from the disease than non -Hispanic whites.

And without death, the Latin community is more likely to suffer complications and other diseases derived from diabetes such as hypoglycemia, hypertension, stroke, blindness, kidney disease or amputations.

The paradox of not being able to eat the food you cultivate in one of the richest regions of the planet
It is partly due to what Alex Ortega, Professor of Public Health at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), calls "food deserts."

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is much greater among Latinos in the United States than among non -Hispanic whites.
"In the areas where Latinos and other minorities usually live there are no access to healthy foods and at the same time they are full of fast food restaurants and stores that sell processed food," he explained in their day.

"In addition, in those areas there are fewer green spaces in which to practice."

The Hispanic paradox: the secret of why Latinos in the US
But despite this reality, Hispanics suffering from type 2 diabetes are less likely to follow insulin therapy than non -Hispanic white patients.

Therefore, it is necessary to "demystify so many myths that the Hispanic community has with respect to diabetes," says Don Francisco.

"It's about guiding, teaching ... we will all learn."