Epidemic, Education, Entertainment

Quick: What do you know about diabetes? Chances are, not much — and that can be a problem for the millions of people diagnosed each year with what the Centers for Disease Control are now calling a full-fledged epidemic; the number of people worldwide with diabetes is expected to double by 2030.

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More About

• Safiyah Spellman
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Metabolic Disorders
• Internal Medicine

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To ease the pain of that diagnosis, University Hospital’s endocrinology clinic offers diabetes education classes for new patients, a service that means a lot to Safiyah Spellman, who suffers from a very rare form of the disease; she has both the type 1 and type 2 variations, a condition that has left her partially blind, in a wheelchair and connected to an insulin pump at all times. But the classes, she says, have helped.

That’s why she organized tonight’s Dollars for Diabetes, a benefit show that raises money for the clinic’s diabetes education programs with performances from a plethora of singers, dancers, poets, bands, a clothing designer and at least one “hula-hoop team,” plus a speaker from the clinic to educate the crowd and the usual giveaways and swag. Tickets are $25 per couple, $15 per person, or $10 if you’re a patient — all of which goes, of course, to a good cause. The show gets started at 6 p.m.; for more information, call Spellman at 347-613-5851 or visit www.theorientaltheater.com.
Sun., Jan. 16, 6 p.m., 2011