Comedian and actor Cedric the Entertainer is best known for crowd-pleasing performances in hit films and TV shows such as Barbershop, Original Kings of Comedy and “The Soul Man.”
Starting in 2014, he got serious and helped educate those living with diabetes about diabetic nerve pain (also known as painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy) through Step On UP, an educational program developed as a collaboration between the American Diabetes Association and Pfizer Inc. for those living with the condition.
Cedric’s connection to diabetes is personal – his father has type 2 diabetes and suffers from diabetic nerve pain.
“It affected me personally,” Cedric said. My dad has Type 2 diabetes, and we just saw him dealing with the pain, you know, this burning shooting pain that can happen with people who have diabetes and didn’t know exactly what it was or that it was related to his diabetes, and so found out about diabetic nerve pain, and we were able to get that assessed, he’s doing so much better now. I thought it would be great for me to tell, especially the minority community, African Americans, Hispanics, that this disease affects them a lot at greater numbers, to be able to use my celebrity to get this message across about going to get yourself checked out.”
Cedric is back this year asking people with diabetes who have this type of pain to “step on up,” have a real conversation with their doctor and take a step toward some pain relief. On October 17, Cedric will talk to attendees at the American Diabetes Association’s EXPO in Houston about the condition and its symptoms, and encourage people to take a Diabetic Nerve Pain Assessment that they can share with their doctor.
Cedric is available on Oct. 16 to talk about why he’s in town, discuss his involvement with Step On Up, his personal connection to diabetic nerve pain and the importance of talking to a doctor. He would also be happy to discuss some of his latest projects.
Despite living with this painful condition, many people with diabetic nerve pain do not talk to their doctor. They either don’t think the burning, shooting pain in their feet or hands2 is connected to their diabetes, may fear what the pain means, or may try to manage it alone, which is why Cedric is asking those who may be suffering to seek some relief. If you have any interest in speaking with Cedric while he’s in town, let me know.
“This is my second year,” Cedric said. “We started with just the online campaign, doing the website and getting the message across online. And this year we’re going around speaking in several cities, events like what we’re doing here in Houston. And then we added a commercial campaign. You see the ad from time to time, where I’m just telling people to encourage them to see their doctor and tell them Cedric sent you.
“And if you have loved ones, moms, dads, aunts, cousins, step up for them, because sometimes they just won’t go and you have to kind of intervene and that’s what this is about, so that’s what I encourage.”
About Diabetic Nerve Pain
- More than 29 million Americans have diabetes and nearly half of them have some form of nerve damage, but many may not know it. One out of five people with diabetes are impacted by diabetic nerve pain.
- Poor diabetes control may also increase the risk for nerve damage that can become painful.
- Diabetic nerve pain can impact one’s life in many ways, including disrupting family time, work or making their diabetes difficult to manage.
- Diabetic nerve pain impacts Black adults with diabetes more severely than others within the general population, based on an analysis conducted by Pfizer of an electronic medical records database.
Source: Click 2 Houston
