Aida Turturro, the actress who plays Janice Soprano on the HBO series “The Sopranos,” is one of the more than 20 million Americans who have diabetes.
Turturro was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (where the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells do not use the insulin properly) in 2000. For more than a year after her initial diagnosis she was in denial and did not take the proper steps-such as diet and exercise-to manage the disease.
Finally, her doctor told her that her blood sugar levels were too high and if she did not learn how to manage the disease, she would suffer serious complications.
“As soon as I started learning more about the potential complications of the disease, I realized I should have taken action sooner,” said Turturro. “It is scary what can happen to you if you do not take control of your diabetes.”
Turturro was among the more than 50 percent of diabetes patients whose A1C levels are above the target goal of 7 percent as established by the American Diabetes Association. Patients with diabetes should know their A1C level. It is a simple blood test that assesses glucose levels over a...