Thousands Take The Big Blue Test on World Diabetes Day

• Press Release
• Source: Diabetes Hands Foundation
• On 2:28 pm EST, Tuesday November 10, 2009

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- November 14 is World Diabetes Day. On that day, at 14:00 hours (2 pm, local time), thousands of people with diabetes will test their blood sugar, do 14 minutes of exercise, test again and share their results online.

The event is called The Big Blue Test because the blue circle is the international symbol for diabetes. The idea of a shared "blood sugar test-in" started with an activity organized in July 2009 by TuDiabetes.org, a community for people touched by diabetes. More than a thousand people participated then. Now, we seek to reach thousands of people with diabetes through eight diabetes social networks* and Twitter. The activity incorporates 14 minutes of physical activity to reinforce the importance of exercise.

"People with diabetes have to test their blood sugar routinely. It can be a very lonely activity," said Manny Hernandez, co-founder of TuDiabetes and a person with diabetes himself. "We want people to take The Big Blue Test, to shed light on this chronic condition and the importance of exercise on World Diabetes Day."

Currently, more than 250 million people have diabetes worldwide. Millions more have diabetes but do not know it yet. People with diabetes need to test their blood sugar levels several times a day and exercise regularly.

Participating in this event to raise diabetes awareness on November 14 is easy:

1. Test your blood sugar.
2. Run, jog, walk the dog or do anything you'd normally do as part of your exercise routine for 14 minutes.
3. Test your blood sugar again.
4. Go to http://bigbluetest.org (or your preferred diabetes social network*) and post your readings and what physical activity you did. If you have a camera, you can also add a photo of your reading(s) or you exercising.
5. If you have a Twitter account, you can also post your readings on Twitter (use the #bigbluetest hashtag) and link back to http://bigbluetest.org.

"We hope to see most readings posted at 14 hours (2 pm) local time, on November 14. If you are early or late, it's OK," said Hernandez. "What matters most is that you test your blood sugar often and that you exercise regularly. If you don't have diabetes, you can take The Big Blue Test. Either way, tell others to test, exercise and share on Nov. 14."

(*) Participating diabetes social networks:

• TuDiabetes (campaign organizer)
• Children With Diabetes
• Diabetes Daily
• Diabetic Connect
• Diabetic Rockstar
• dLife
• Juvenation
• My Diabetes Central

About TuDiabetes.org

TuDiabetes.org was co-founded in 2007 by Manny Hernandez, a diabetes advocate and social media expert diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2002. The community is run by the Diabetes Hands Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit that connects people touched by diabetes and raises diabetes awareness.

TuDiabetes has been featured on Regis Philbin's Hallmark Heroes, NPR's Diane Rehm Show, Sabado Gigante with Don Francisco, Diabetic Living magazine, Diabetes Positive magazine, El Pais (Spain), Diabetes Hoy (Mexico), the Office of Minority Health web site and many other media outlets and blogs.

For more information please visit: www.TuDiabetes.org.

For information about the Diabetes Hands Foundation, visit: www.DiabetesHandsFoundation.org, email PR@tudiabetes.org or call 650.283.4862.

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