Video: Academy Award(R) Winner Olympia Dukakis and Husband, Actor Louis Zorich, Encourage Older Adults to Ask.Sc...( Duo Teams up with Novo Nordisk to Urg...),Health

Duo Teams up with Novo Nordisk to Urge Eligible Adults Age 65 and Older to Take Advantage of Free Medicare Diabetes Screening Benefit

PRINCETON, N.J., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Academy Award(R) winner Olympia Dukakis and her husband, actor Louis Zorich, have partnered with Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, to urge at-risk adults 65 and older to get screened for diabetes. The educational program called Ask.Screen.Know. launched today to encourage people enrolled in Medicare to ask their healthcare provider for a free diabetes screening and to know their blood sugar numbers and what actions to take.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090518/NY18220 )

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/novo/37785/

Diabetes is an epidemic, and older adults are particularly affected. Approximately seven out of 10 adults age 65 and older have diabetes or pre-diabetes; and of those people with diabetes, almost half don't know it. The good news is that with early detection and treatment, the serious health consequences of diabetes can be prevented or delayed.

Since 2005, Medicare has offered free diabetes screening services to those at-risk for diabetes; however, utilization has been low and many older adults are undiagnosed.

For Olympia and Louis, involvement in this program hits close to home. In fact, the couple, who has been married for 47 years, were recently screened for diabetes and Louis learned he has type 2 diabetes.

"When we learned that less than 10 percent of people with Medicare have taken advantage of the diabetes screening benefit, we knew we had to do something," said Olympia Dukakis. "So we joined forces wit
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