Cell Phone Could Help You Battle Diabetes

The nation's top doctor was recently in Detroit to launch a new fight against Type 2 diabetes. U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin told us good health happens everywhere.

"Health is everywhere we are, where we learn, where we work, where we play, where we pray. It's not just in a doctor's office. It's in everything we do, so trying to make our communities easier to walk, easier to access good healthy foods, is so important to being healthy," said Benjamin.

That's why Dr. Benjamin is excited to get behind "txt4health". Launched by the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community, which uses technology to improve health, it's a 14 week, personalized, text message intervention to help you battle Type 2 diabetes.

"Knowledge is power. It really is," said Glenda Fields.

It took the 48-year-old of Detroit years to actually learn how to live with her diabetes, and now that's exactly what she's doing.

"I love my lasagna. I will make a big pan, but instead of getting the regular lasagna, I get whole wheat lasagna. I use the heart smart spaghetti sauce. I use turkey meat," Fields explained. "So, I can still have my lasagna, but it's low fat and then I understand my serving sizes."

Type 2 diabetes is triggered by an insulin shortage. Uncontrolled, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and amputation. It's the sixth leading cause of death in Michigan, but we can change that.

"Things like eating right, exercising, don't smoke, don't drink a lot of alcohol, those things can change total outcomes of our entire community, so it's important that we start to make sure we take control of our own health," Benjamin said.

Anyone in metro Detroit can text the word "health" to 300400 and you will get the message loud and clear.