4th January 2020 11:37 PM ET

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Dr. Pepper Schwartz has taken to social media to apologize for saying something that a lot of viewers missed. During the Married at First Sight premiere, while discussing Katies Type-1 diabetes, Dr. Pepper said that Katie has real diabetes.

In an apology that was posted on Instagram, Dr. Pepper wrote the following:

To Married at First Sight fans, I just want to clarify that I misspoke on the opening of this seasons Married at First Sight. I said that Katie had real diabetes when I meant to say a real serious disease-but it didnt come out right. Of course, all types of diabetes are real and serious, but I need to clarify my on-air statement because I didnt want anyone to think that any type of diabetes is in any way trivial.

She then went on to post information about the disease and asked that her apology be accepted.

According to the American Diabetes Association, Type-1 diabetes is due to autoimmune cell destruction that likely leads to absolute insulin deficiency. Type-2 diabetes is a progressive loss of cell insulin secretion frequently on the background of insulin resistance.

Typically Type-1 diabetes makes the person insulin-dependent, where Type-2 diabetes may not be insulin-dependent. Type-2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. It is usually caused by the person having a higher percentage of body fat, even if that person is not overweight or obese. A lot of times, Type-2 diabetics go undiagnosed for long periods of time due to a lack of symptoms.

Dr. Pepper, a fan favorite, seems to be forgiven. A lot of the comments in her post were of acceptance and forgiveness for her error. Dr. Pepper, who has been on the show since the onset of the series, is a love, sex, and relationship expert and is also a Professor of Sociology.

Married at First Sight airs on Wednesday at 8/7c on Lifetime.

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Married at First Sights Dr Pepper Schwartz apologizes for saying that a participant has real ... - Monsters and Critics

KEY POINTS

Among 30 million diabetic Americans, 90-95% of them are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. CDC reports that about 1 in 4 adults living with the condition didnt know they had it. It is important to watch out for warning signs.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when a persons cells cannot utilize blood sugar efficiently to produce energy. It happens when the persons blood sugar levels get elevated resulting in insulin resistance. The body fails to secrete adequate amounts of insulin to function properly and in turn, makes the bodys cell show no reaction to insulin.

The hormone insulin secreted by the pancreas lets the body utilize sugar from carbohydrate food sources and maintains the optimal blood sugar level. Elevated blood sugar levels make a person experience this mood sign.

While type 2 diabetes can be managed efficiently, it can create added stress to the patients. Individuals with this condition might have a lot of concerns pertaining to diet restrictions, measuring insulin levels and worrying about their long-term health. For some diabetic patients, such concerns become more intense and they feel anxious.

A 2013 research has reported that diabetes is linked to an increased risk of experiencing anxiety disorders as well as elevated anxiety symptoms. A 2008 study reported that diabetic patients are 20% more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders compared to those without the condition. It was found to be particularly true among the Hispanic population.

A 2006 study that sought to find out if depression and anxiety might precede the onset of diabetes found that anxiety symptoms emerged as a significant risk factor of type 2 diabetes onset.

When you are stressed, your blood sugar levels can get affected. In some individuals, it can raise blood sugar levels and among certain others, it can lower them as well. Another study has reported a link between glycemic control and mental health conditions including depression and anxiety.

Also, knowing that diabetes might put them at risk of health complications including kidney diseases, heart diseases, and stroke might also cause anxiety.

Symptoms of anxiety include insomnia, rapid heartbeat, increased sweating, muscle twitching, weakness, lethargy, gastrointestinal problems, nervousness, restlessness and being tense.

how to reduce anxiety lavender oil Photo: xusenru - Pixabay

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Type 2 Diabetes Symptom: Feeling Like This Could Be A Warning Sign - International Business Times

AIM:

In the elderly, type 2diabetesis a frequent chronic condition that requires the attention of health care. As patient involvement is a prerequisite for treatment, it seems crucial to assess psychosocial aspects, including patients cognitive component of attitude towards the condition, as early as upon diagnosis. The aim of this study was to examine whether the cognitive illness representation in older female and male patients with type 2diabetesis differentiated. Considering disease duration, we determined the effect of cognitive illness representation on olderdiabetesemotional wellbeing.

The study in 99 older adults with type 2diabetesused Disease-Related Appraisals Scale (Skala Oceny Wasnej Choroby; SOWCh) to assess cognitive illness representation and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to assess the severity of state anxiety.

In a subgroup with short-standing diagnosis, women scored significantly higher than men on subscales of Threat, Obstacle/Loss and Profit. In a subgroup with long-standing diagnosis, women scored significantly higher than men on the subscale of Threat and significantly lower than men on the subscale of Value. The associations between the individual dimensions of cognitive illness representation and anxiety were also determined. These correlations differed between sexes and stages of the disease.

Both at early and late stages of type 2diabetes, women perceive their illness as a threat significantly more than men do. This appraisal persists throughout the entire duration of the illness. Men with long-standing diagnosis, attribute higher value todiabetes than women do, perceiving it as an opportunity to appreciate values they did not pay attention to before. Anxiety reported by older women and men can be explained to a significant extent by certain dimensions of their respective cognitive illness representation.

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Cognitive Illness Representation and Anxiety in Older Men and Women with Type 2 Diabetes - DocWire News

Diabetes is a condition when you have elevated levels of glucose in your bloodstream. This condition happens when your body is not able to process insulin properly. It can also happen if your pancreas does not produce sufficient amount of the insulin hormone.

If you have diabetes, it is always tricky to choose the right food. There are so many that you need to avoid. Most tasty foods can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. You have to avoid sweets, some fruits and even a few vegetables. Refined carbs are a big no. This is a problem because bread has today become a staple in our diet. It is not only filling but convenient too. But it is packed with carbohydrates. So, what do you do?

Today, there are a lot of healthy options in the market. You can easily head for the healthy section and pick up a bread that does not cause a sugar spike. But you need to be aware of a few facts first.

This is a common mistake that many people make when choosing their bread. They think that if it is gluten-free, it will be low in carbs too. But this is a misconception. In fact, if gluten is taken out, it may actually make the bread more rich in carbs and calories. Therefore, it is better to keep away from these unless you are gluten-intolerant.

If you are diabetic, you need to increase your fibre intake. But you may not be doing so by consuming multi-grain bread. Contrary to popular belief, multigrain bread does not contain more fibre. It just has a bit more of each grain.

This looks quite tempting in bakeries. But it is not very healthy. This is a refined bread and the outer coating, bran and the germ of the kernel are removed during the making process. Therefore, it is stripped of its vitamins and minerals.

This is healthy and it comes packed with fibre. It keeps you full for longer and you end up eating less. This is a good choice if you want to control your diabetes. It can also help you lose weight.

Published : January 2, 2020 8:27 pm | Updated:January 3, 2020 11:02 am

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Are you diabetic? Know what bread to choose - TheHealthSite

ROCHESTER, Minn. A litany of high-impact health stories stood out in 2019, nearly all of them with endings that remain to be written.

These included record-breaking opioid settlements, a new treatment for cystic fibrosis, the promise and peril of large IT brands like Google and Apple moving into the healthcare space, and a devastating outbreak of serious lung disease in healthy young persons from vaping illicit THC.

But in terms of the health story with the greatest potential for taming sickness and the ballooning cost of healthcare, a case can be made for the recognition by health officials in 2019 of the ketogenic diet as a first line-treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The ketogenic diet, as many by now know, is a low-carb diet on steroids, a calorically-unrestricted eating pattern in which just 10-20% of daily calories (or less than 50 grams) come from carbohydrates, with dietary fat making up the majority of remaining energy (roughly 70% of daily calories).

Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, is an acquired metabolic disorder affecting 340,000 Minnesotans and 30 million Americans, one that currently extracts $250 billion in direct costs each year in the US, and which can lead to heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimers, amputation, blindness and cancer.

Because it is often accompanied by obesity, type 2 diabetes is routinely attributed to overeating and lack of exercise, but a more precise description of its mechanism comes down to an elevation of the bodys emergency hormone insulin. Given that the body only releases insulin in response to dietary carbohydrates, type 2 diabetes is arguably a food-borne illness, with the food in question being carbohydrates. That is the rationale, in any event, for treating the predominant illness of our time with a ketogenic diet.

We need to recognize that conventional diets have not worked well, and reduce the scientific barriers to studying novel approaches, like the ketogenic diet, says Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist at Boston Childrens Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, in an email to Forum News Service. These long-term studies will provide the definitive data to understand effectiveness for various chronic conditions, and potential side-effects.

Ludwig recently authored a paper in the Journal of Nutrition compiling the evidence for ketogenic diets, past and present, a paper complete with a section heading noting there is no human requirement for dietary fiber or carbohydrate. A century ago, he reminds readers, the ketogenic diet was a standard of care in diabetes, used to prolong the life of children with type 1 diabetes and to control the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in adult.

It was only following the discovery of insulin in the 1920s, Ludwig writes, that high carbohydrate diets gave us our present day medication protocols for type 2 diabetes, treatments anchored by the use of pricey commercial insulin analogs and daily ingestion of glucose-control medications.

Ludwig says he wrote the article to counter a spate of negative articles (that) have been rewritten about the ketogenic diet by nutrition experts, articles focusing on rare side-effects.

Viable approach

The case for keto in 2019 kicked off in May, when the American Diabetes Association released a Consensus Report calling low carbohydrate or very low carbohydrate diets a a viable approach for certain patients with T2D, including those hoping to reduce medications.

Describing the diets as among the most studied eating patterns for type 2 diabetes, the nations diabetes authorities added the caveat that ketogenic therapy for diabetes generally requries medical oversight to prevent hypoglycemia. In other words, keto can work so effectively in diabetics that should patients fail to carefully taper medications with medical guidance as their condition improves, they can become dangerously overmedicated.

June of 2019 saw the release of still more arguments for keto, in the form of second-year trial results by researchers from Indiana University Health and Verta Health. Their non-randomized clinical trial of the diet produced data showing that more than half of 262 patients studied had reversed their illness on a remote-monitored ketogenic diet, with many having discontinued the need for all medications except for Metformin.

While noting that the Verta Health results should be interpreted with caution, Ludwig says these exceptional outcomes at two years, with many participants coming off diabetes medications and improving blood glucose control, highlights the exciting possibility that diabetes can be reversed without bariatric surgery.

The arrival of keto for type 2 diabetes comes along at a time when the standard of care is increasingly coming up short. The year saw widespread shortages and price hikes for insulin, leading politicians to threaten price control legislation and stirring insurers to issue competing press releases touting their full- or highly discounted insulin coverage packages.

As endocrinology researchers from Mayo Clinic recently wrote in the journal BMJ, the body of evidence shows no meaningful benefit for intensive glucose-lowering regimens when it comes to the health outcomes that matter most to patients. And as researchers from Norway confirmed in 2018, telling high-risk individuals the advice to eat more fiber and polyunsaturated fat, plus the familiar five servings of fruit and vegetables with plentiful intake of beans, wholegrain and low-fat dairy, produced no improvement either.

For its part, the device industry is taking steps to build a ketogenic diabetes care product line, offering portable ketone breath meters and continuous glucose monitors allowing patients to see the effects on their blood sugar of carbohydrate rich foods in real time.

Still to be determined is whether dietary officials will heed the call by groups like the Low-Carb Action Network to include a true low-carbohydrate diet in the next installment of the dietary guidelines. Under the current USDA definition, diets up to 45% carbohydrates, are deemed low-carbohydrate, a too-high allowance for carbohydrates potentially washing out the ability of researchers to accurately test the intervention for disease reversal and prevention.

Its new research on an old method. As Ludwig notes, before insulin was discovered, a very-low-carbohydrate diet was considered the standard of care for diabetes. From this perspective, modern nutrition science may be in the process of rediscovering the wheel, so to speak.

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Health story of the 2019: Keto can help with Type 2 Diabetes - Southernminn.com

Glenn Ellis

By Glenn Ellis

(Trice Edney Wire) More and more, I am finding many people who as they enter their 6th decade, are finding new aches and pains that never existed before. Increasingly, many are finding something else that never existed before:diabetes. For most of these people, after a lifetime of enjoying reasonably healthy lives, seemingly out of nowhere, they are told they are now diabetic, and prescribed medication. Needless, to say, this comes as a shock!

However, consistent with many other changes in the body as we age, your body becomes more susceptible to diabetes.

Of course, seniors (those over 65) are not the only people to be affected by diabetes. According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 30 million people in the United States have diabetes. The CDC also notes that 90 to 95 percent of cases involve type 2 diabetes. More than one-quarter of the US population aged 65 and older has diabetes,1 including type 1 and 2, and approximately one-half of older adults have prediabetes. In this population, age-related insulin resistance and impaired pancreatic islet function increase the risk of developing the disease.

Many older people also have other conditions as well as diabetes, and this can complicate diabetes management. For example, high blood pressure or high levels of certain fats in the blood can speed up the progression of common complications of diabetes, such as kidney problems, eye problems, foot problems and heart and blood vessel problems. People with diabetes whose blood glucose levels are high are more prone to infections than people with normal blood glucose levels.

People with poorly controlled diabetes are also at greater risk for dental problems. Theyre more likely to have infections of their gums and the bones that hold their teeth in place, because diabetes can reduce the blood supply to the gums.

Not only that, but when we age, loss of teeth and poor dental health becomes more and more common. As a result, what we eat, and how we eat (along with age-related poorer appetite). We dont, and cant, chew like we used to. That means things like crunchy fruits and vegetables are off-limits. We end up gravitating towards softer chewy foods that tend to be more processed, and bad for our health in the long run.

A poor diet of soft and processed foods can have serious long-term effects, especially on the seniors or those with systemic health issues like heart disease and diabetes. Specifically, a poor diet can lead to either unhealthy weight loss or unhealthy weight gain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, malnutrition, dehydration, jawbone loss, osteoporosis, stroke, and some cancers. Poor nutrition can also cause even more oral health issues, including gingivitis and tooth decay.

If we look, honestly, at all the things that go along with aging, we find that it makes sense that the risk of becoming diabetic increases as we get older. In addition to their many physical challenges, elderly diabetes patients often are socially isolated and have financial problems that negatively affect their care. They may forget to eat, be unable to afford medications or quality food, or skip medication doses to extend a prescription. They also may experience changes in taste and a lack of interest and ability to shop for food and prepare meals at home.

An additional concern with blood sugar being too high, is the danger of blood sugar dropping too low(hypoglycemia). This creates the conditions for many serious issues that wreak havoc in the lives of the elderly; particularly falls and fractures. Instead of, or in addition to, sweating and tremors, elderly diabetes patients should be taught to look for symptoms of hypoglycemia, such as dizziness, weakness, delirium, and confusion. Often, the low glucose will cause them to fall, resulting in a head injury and death.

There is good news! Despite the high rates of diagnosis, there are ways the disease may be delayed and even prevented. Your best options include regular exercise; losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight if youre overweight or obese; and reducing your intake of sugar and sweetened beverages. If we are all honest with ourselves, one or more of these risk factors is a part of who we are, and how we have grown accustomed to living. By losing just 5 to 7 percent of your body weight, you can slow the development of type 2 diabetes.

You may not be able to prevent diabetes entirely. But taking steps now may prevent related complications and improve your quality of life.

Remember, Im not a doctor. I just sound like one. Take good care of yourself and live the best life possible!

Originally posted here:
Getting Diabetes As We Get Older - There Is Good News! - The Seattle Medium - Seattle Medium

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, announced that a provision they advocated for to help increase competition in the insulin market and reduce costs for diabetes patients has been signed into law as part of the appropriations package.

The new law incorporates a component of the Lower Health Care Costs Actwhich Senator Collins voted to advance at a Health Committee hearing in Junethat clarifies that insulin manufacturers cannot receive new exclusivities to block competitors from coming to market as products transition from the drugs pathway to the biological pathway in March 2020. In addition, the law will help lower costs by improving and streamlining the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) approval process for new forms of insulin.

Millions of Americans rely on insulin as part of their daily treatment, and virtually all of those with Type 1 diabetes rely on it for survival, says Senator Collins. Senator Shaheen and I work very closely together as co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus to advance policies that will improve the lives of those with diabetes, and one of our highest priorities is to combat the skyrocketing price of insulin. This provision will build on our bipartisan efforts to make this vital medication more affordable for patients.

Diabetes is a chronic condition and access to insulin can mean the difference between life and death for the millions of Americans living with the disease. Lowering insulin prices and increasing access to this life-saving drug has been a top priority for both Senator Collins and me, which is why Im very relieved this provision to make progress toward that goal is now law, says Senator Shaheen. Ill continue to work across the aisle to build on this progress and will keep fighting for more federal investments to treat and ultimately cure this disease.

Read more:
New law will help lower the cost of diabetes medication - WAGM

Family members of a US man with type 1 diabetes who tragically died following a switch to over-the-counter insulin have spoken out about the need for insulin to be accessible to everyone who needs it.

Jeremy Crawford, 39, had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a young adult and had previously managed the condition well. Reportedly, upon starting a new job, he was left without access to health insurance. It was during this period he started using a cheaper form of insulin while he waited for his new health insurance to begin.

Tragically, Jeremy died on August 25th 2019 after being found unconscious at his apartment. The autopsy report concluded that the cause of death was bronchial pneumonia with a side effect of diabetes mellitus. It is believed his condition deteriorated rapidly, with an excess of empty bottles of water and sugar-free drinks highlighting his attempt to stay hydrated.

Jeremys family believes that the change in insulin use is linked to his death, and are speaking out in an attempt to shine a light on the issue. Jeremys father Harry Rybolt, who also has type 1 diabetes, is determined to make insulin affordable to all who need it. Ive got to do something, Rybolt said. This needs to be exposed because this is just a rip off.

Jeremys sister Dawn Mahoney said, I think he knew it wasnt the right insulin for him, but I think taking something versus nothing was what he needed to do.

Following her research into the use of over-the-counter insulin last year, Dr. Jennifer Goldstein MD, said, These are not one-to-one substitutions. They behave very differently. But if you know what to expect, then you can anticipate it and do fine.

Its really, really important to work hand-in-hand with a healthcare provider to help modify and adjust dosing and to understand how these insulins behave differently than other insulins they might have taken before, says Goldstein.

In the midst of soaring insulin prices there have been on-going reports of individuals using drastic measures to access vital diabetes medication and supplies in the US. This includes switching to cheaper alternatives which are available without a prescription, and turning to such extremes as trading medications on the Black Market and rationing insulin supplies.

A study, published in Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, revealed 24 per cent of study participants had traded diabetes medications. The majority of those questioned said black market exchanges were being carried out due to a lack of access to the proper medications and supplies to manage their diabetes.

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Skyrocketing costs and over-the-counter insulin blamed for man's death - Diabetes - Diabetes.co.uk

Tom Hanks, 63, has starred in the most iconic films of our times including Forrest Gump, The Green Mile and Cast Away. As a young boy Tom was extremely shy and unpopular with students and teachers. He told Rolling Stone magazine: I was horribly, painfully, terribly shy. Thankfully he found acting which became a solace for him, and his career went from strength to strength, winning numerous accolades and becoming a celebrity in his own right. As his career soared, his health began to deteriorate and he continuously ignored medical advise to chose a healthier lifestyle. This denial led to Tom being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Speaking to Radio Times Tom said: Im part of the lazy American generation that has blindly kept dancing through the party and now finds ourselves with a malady.

"I was heavy. Youve seen me in movies, you know what I looked like, he continued. I was a total idiot.

Tom lost 35 pounds for his performance in the film Philadelphia where he played lawyer battling with AIDS.

He then had to put on 50 pounds before film production of Cast Away, only to then have to lose 55 pounds on a gruelling diet.

READ MORE: Type 2 diabetes: Poorly managed blood sugar levels could cause this serious complications

These dramatic weight fluctuations affected his health greatly and he admitted in an interview that his diabetes diagnosis might have been caused partially because of his weight or his predisposal to being heavier.

Tom revealed his medical condition to David Letterman and said: I went to the doctor and he said, You know those high blood sugar numbers youve been dealing with since you were 36? Well, youve graduated. Youve got type 2 diabetes, young man.

The Obesity Action said on their website: During a fast, or losing and gaining weight, the body may rely on stored glucose in the liver known as glycogen which is used for energy.

"During this fast, the body may use amino acids or fatty acids to help with its metabolic processes.

DONT MISS

"If an adequate amount of insulin is not available, as is the situation in diabetes, then this glucose is unable to enter cells.

"Instead, the glucose remains in the bloodstream in a higher than usual concentration.

Tom told Radioe Times: I thought I could avoid it by removing the buns from my cheeseburgers.

"Well, it takes a little bit more than that. My doctor says if I can hit a target weight, I will not have type 2 diabetes anymore.

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Tom Hanks health: Actor says he was a total idiot after being diagnosed with condition - Express

Mara Hall

I dont know what it is exactly that makes Mara Hall so downright loveable. Really, I dont know. What I do know, is that after speaking with her, I am convinced this dynamic actress, music teacher, producer, new mother, and champion for spreading awareness for living well with diabetes is my new best friend.

Heres what I learned about my new bestie Mara Hall. Shes best known for her comedic roles and has a very hefty body of work which includes portraying Nurse Kathleen on Greys Anatomy and numerous guest-starring roles that include Scandal (ABC) and The Quad(BET), supporting role in A Question of Faith (Silver Lining Entertainment), to name a few.

Mara made her national TV debut on the hit show Dance Your Ass Off as one of the contestants on Oxygens reality dance/weight-loss competition series. In 2015, Mara launched her social media movement and lifestyle show, I Got Something To Say #IGSTS, that empowers audiences through laughter.

Mara is also passionate about health, fashion, and beauty and loves to connect with fellow beauty queens across the U.S. and globally. The Detroit native now calls Atlanta home because shes causing all kinds of trouble on the new drama Ambitions on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

If youve not found the new showyetyou are in for a treat. Ambitions is created by Jamey Giddens and produced by Will Packer and is a multigenerational family saga that explores love, power, and politics in Atlanta. It centers around lawyer Stephanie (Robin Givens), Carlisle, the wife of Atlanta Mayor Evan Lancaster, and her rivalry with Amara Hughes (Essence Atkins), a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorneys Office who has just arrived in Atlanta with her husband, Titus. Stephanie and Amara used to be best friends who find themselves combatants in both their personal and professional lives. Stephanies ambitious husband, Evan Lancaster, dreams of being Georgias first African-American governor and will do anything to get there. Amaras husband, Titus, is the in-house counsel for a big pharmaceutical company fighting a class-action suit brought by Stephanies powerful family. Mara Hall plays Darcia Lancaster.

Here is what Mara Hall had to share about living her very best life and working for OWNs Ambitions and living with Type 2 diabetes.

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL: Mara Hall. Mara, Mara, Mara you are a piece of work on OWNs new show Ambitions a great villain, by the way in your own words, describe the show and your character, please.

MARA HALL: (laughing) Well, Ambitions is a nighttime soap opera that explores the lives of two families in Atlanta, Georgia. I play Darcia Lancaster, one of the Lancasters relatives who comes into town amidst a lot of chaos within the family

LAS: Yeassss, Darcia is perfect for Ambitions one of the reasons I love the show.

MH: Thank you. The show also explores so much of Atlantas social life thats filled with seduction, debauchery, treachery, and wonderful storylines.

LAS: Describe your character, Darcia.

MH: My character is strong sometimes nice, sometimes nasty. There will be sauciness, lust, lies, and sex.

LAS: Are you in the writers room?

MH: (laughing) No.

LAS: It sounds like you should be?

MH: From your lips to Gods ears.

LAS: Ok, lets speak it into the universe.

MH: Amen.

LAS: Mara Hall, stepping into the writers room of OWNs Ambitions to give her ideas on more sex, more lies, more intrigue and more drum roll please, more ambition.

MH: Youre funny.

LAS: I know. Ive heard great things from creatives working on OWNs shows. Tell me youre experience, please.

MH: You know, Ive had a very positive experience working with the network [OWN]. One thing, when I initially got the original role that I was for, I was seven months pregnant.

LAS: No?

MH: Yes. The OWN network, Lions Gate and Will Packer productions were very compassionate of me being a working mother, or soon to be working mother slash, actress, while I was pregnant. They were very, very supportive of me at the time.

LAS: Thats whats up. I love hearing this its unusual but refreshing. Sorry, keep going.

MH: They supported me the whole way through my delivering my daughter, they were an amazing team.

LAS: Mommie, shout out to your daughter. What is her name?

MH: (laughing) Marley Nicole Hall-Bryson and shes eleven months. She will be a year on January 5th.

LAS: Acting is a very competitive world. What keeps you motivated?

MH: Its the impact that I have on people when I am entertaining. I know that I have something special by the way people respond to me when; Im on stage, film, on camera. Its how I make them feel. If I didnt have that certain je ne sais quoi, I would have left acting a long time ago because my real passion is music.

LAS: Music?

MH: Im a certified music teacher and Ive taught elementary up to collegiate, instrumental-band, and that is my real passion.

LAS: Amazing.

LAS: Whats next for you in television and film?

MH: Well, I finished my first short film called Juicy Ladies which I produced and its inspired by my life.

LAS: Great title and what is Juicy Ladies about?

MH: Well, as I shared, its inspired by my life as a Type 2 Diabetic. It will air on Aspire TV in February 2020 and in collaboration with that I will also have a campaign to spread the good news on how to fight and live a healthy life with diabetes as an African-American woman and to promote positivity through the community through this short film [Juicy Ladies].

LAS: This is Gods work, Mara Hall.

MH: I was diagnosed with the disease almost 20 years ago. It impacts more than 25 million Americans and my brother passed away from Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), he went into a coma because he had diabetes and didnt know it. Thats when it got real for me.

LAS: As I said, Juicy Ladies is an important work. It was a pleasure speaking and laughing with you. Lets do this again, in February, to dig into this film and talk about living with Type 2 Diabetes! Sound good?

MH: It does. Happy Holidays.

LAS: And to you, Mara Hall. Happy 2020.

Twitter Mara Hall (@Mara_Hall) http://www.oprah.com/app/ambitions-cast.htm

Original post:
MARA HALL has Ambition and a message for those living with Type 2 Diabetes - Lasentinel