By STEVE DOYLE - Times Staff Writer steve.doyle@htimes.com

In Alabama 1 in 10 are estimated to have disorder

The state’s continuing battle with diabetes will be on display Sunday at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Some 400 people are expected to participate in the annual “Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes” around the UAH campus. The event is one of the biggest fundraisers for the American Diabetes Association’s Huntsville office.

“Not only do we want to raise money, we want to promote awareness about diabetes,” Doris Lewis, associate manager for the local chapter, said Tuesday. “More and more children are being diagnosed now with Type 2 diabetes, and that’s very scary.”

Diabetes is an immense health crisis, affecting some 230 million people worldwide and claiming about 3 million lives a year. An estimated 1 in 10 Alabama adults has the blood-sugar disorder.

The association’s goal for Sunday’s walk is $120,000, Lewis said. Some of that will stay in North Alabama to provide services to diabetics; the rest would go to researchers working to cure the disease.

Lewis’ daughter, Dana, will be front and center at the walk. The University of Alabama junior has Type 1 diabetes, meaning her pancreas does not produce the insulin needed to convert sugar into energy.

People with that type can die unless they take multiple daily doses of insulin to regulate their blood sugar.

In Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked to overeating and lack of exercise, the pancreas makes insulin but the body does not use it effectively. People with less-severe cases can often control it by changing their diet; others have to take insulin.

Dana Lewis, 20, has become a nationally known spokeswoman for the diabetes association. During her freshman year in Tuscaloosa, she successfully pushed campus dining halls to provide more nutritional information.

Her latest project is teaching a sort of “Diabetes 101″ class to help diabetic students adjust to college life. Among other things, she addresses topics such as eating properly and how typical college stress can play havoc with blood-sugar levels.

“Tests, a fight with a boyfriend or girlfriend, family issues - all of that can mess with your levels,” she said Tuesday.

Next up for Dana Lewis: Making sure students with food allergies have safe dining options on campus.

Participants in Sunday’s walk are being asked to raise at least $21 each, as a reminder that someone in America is diagnosed with diabetes every 21 seconds.