African American women are disproportionately affected by heart disease. Together, we can do something to change that.

Know Diabetes By Heart Ambassador, Hyvelle Ferguson Davis shares her experience of living with type 2 diabetes, stroke and heart disease on February’s Diabetes Late Nite with music from Camila Cabello.

Growing up, diabetes was a silent, omnipresent resident in Hyvelle’s family’s home. Her mother had the disease but never acknowledged it.

“Black folks have illnesses nobody talks about but deal with,” said Ferguson Davis, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “Our mom would just say, ‘I’m tired.’ I watched her deteriorate over the years, but she didn’t make it known or relevant.”

She kept thinking diabetes was an old person’s disease. Then, in 2014, she had a stroke. Every two minutes, an adult with diabetes in the U.S. is hospitalized for a stroke.

“I was reading stuff backwards at work, talking weird,” Ferguson Davis said. “I came home and went to sleep. I woke up when my daughter Brittney, who was a teenager, came home from school. She said, ‘Mom, you don’t sound right.’

“She called my sister, who immediately called 911.”

READ MORE of Hyvelle’s story

We’re talking about ‘ROMANCE & DIABETES’ on Diabetes Late Nite with musical inspiration from Camila Cabello.

After releasing three studio albums from 2015 to 2017 as part of Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello made her solo album debut in 2018, then this second album, Romance released in 2019 — and even she can feel the difference in the song-making process.

“I feel like this time around, I really got to bond with the people that I was collaborating with because I wasn’t trying to impress anyone anymore.”

Having diabetes affects much more than a person’s diet. It can impact every aspect of their life, including their sexual health.

When a person has diabetes, their body cannot use insulin properly, and this can lead to high blood sugar levels. Over time, these can lead to complications such as nerve damage and cardiovascular problems. Both have implications for sexual health in men and women.

Guests include ‘Intimacy & Diabetes’ Author Janis Roszler LMFT, RD, LD/N, CDE, FAND, American Heart & American Diabetes Association’s Know Diabetes by Heart Ambassador Hyvelle Ferguson Davis, ‘My Sweet Blessing: Adventures In Diabetes’ Author Trisha Porretti RN, BSN, CDE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, and Kathy Malleck.

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from Camila Cabello’s Romance album courtesy of SONY Music.

Diabetes Late Nite is a fast-paced, full-filled hour of diabetes education and wellness advice that encourages listeners to “laugh a little, learn a  lot.

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