As a part of Bloomfield Hills High School’s HOSA Chapter, Luke Atto and Brady Winston will venture out to Indianapolis June 17-20, at the HOSA (Future Health Professionals) International Leadership Conference. They participate in the category “Community Awareness” and hope to bring success back to Bloomfield Hills High School after an incredible second place finish at the State Leadership Conference.
Luke Atto said, “My favorite moment of it all so far was not only seeing Brady and I get finalists, but also my friends that were also doing a Community Awareness Project as well, on Muscular Dystrophy.” Luke highlights that the journey at states was more than presenting and going home; he had a fulfilling experience with his peers.
Regarding their diabetes project, it is Luke and Brady’s goal to spread awareness to the community in Bloomfield Hills regarding diabetes, hoping to inspire others to help individuals with diabetes and take action in their own lives.
Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease where the body cannot produce insulin (the hormone that lowers blood sugar levels in the blood) in the pancreas. Unfortunately, Type 1 Diabetes is not preventable; however, there are many measures that one can take to manage Type 1 Diabetes.
Mr. Thomas, an economics and personal finance teacher at BHHS, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes just seven years ago. When asked about the technology that he uses and has used as a diabetic, he said, “For the first six years of having diabetes, I just used the pen. I have a chart on my phone that measures my blood sugar from the pen in my body. You want to keep your blood sugar in the seventy to one-hundred and eighty range, but ideally one-hundred and ten to one-hundred and twenty. The problem with using the pen is that while I am disciplined with my exercising and eating, it is not good enough because when you sleep, how are you supposed to manage diabetes? This is why I got the pump and it helps me so much because when I eat in the evening, my insulin pump can take care of it for the most part.”
After explaining what his life has looked like with diabetes, Mr. Thomas reflects upon something that you will almost never hear from anyone. “One thing that has been a little frustrating for me when having diabetes is who is giving me the advice… A lot of dieticians’ and doctors’ advice is good, but a lot of it is not, and they don’t like to hear that. I don’t like that the people who are giving me advice don’t even have diabetes.”
Type 2 Diabetes is when the body cannot produce insulin properly in the pancreas. The result of this disease is primarily rooted from lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and exercise. Type 2 Diabetes is in fact preventable, which is another major motive for Luke and Brady: reducing intake of unhealthy, sugary foods and inspiring individuals to exercise more often.
Luke and Brady’s goal is to make this community stronger and win the battle against diabetes. They also want people to know that diabetes is not always linked to obesity, which is a common misconception.
To get more information regarding diabetes, visit @diabetes_awareness_bhhs on Instagram, where they have informative posts, interviews, a podcast in the bio, and more.
